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AMONG THE BURMANS 




A Typical ShaIst 



Among the Burmans 

A record of fifteen years 
of work and its fruitage 

By 
HENRY PARK COCHRANE 



ILLUSTRATED 




New York Chicago Toronto 

Fleming H. Revell Company 

London and Edinburgh 



Copyright, 1904, by 
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 



Two Aopies RewHvod 
SEP IC 1904 
,^Ooo»trtt Entry 

CLASIS CL XXo. No. 






New York: 158 Fifth Avenue 
Chicago : 6'^ Washington Street 
Toronto : 27 Richmond Street, W 
London : ai Paternoster Square 
Edinburgh : 30 St. Mary Street 



P r e f a c e 

THE aim of this book is to give a true 
picture of life and conditions in Burma. 
Heathen religions, superstitions, and 
native customs are described as seen in the daily 
life of the people. Concrete illustrations are 
freely used to make the picture more vivid. 
Truth is stronger than fiction. In matters of 
personal experience and observation I have used 
the " Perpendicular Pronoun " as more direct 
and graphic. In matters of history I have read 
nearly everything available, and drawn my own 
conclusions, as others have done before me. If 
interest in " The Land of Judson " is stimulated 
by reading this little volume, its object will have 
been accomplished. 

H. P. C. 



Contents 



I. 


First Experiences 


9 


II. 


Living Like the Natives 


27 


III. 


Customs of the Burmese 


37 


IV. 


Chief Races of Burma 


70 


V. 


Buddhism As It Is 


"3 


VI. 


Burma's Outcasts 


146 


VII. 


A Nation in Transition 


157 


VIII. 


"By All Means— Save Some" . 


167 


IX. 


<e With Persecutions " . 


208 


X. 


Heroes and Heroines . 


224 


XI. 


Peculiar Experiences 


240 


XII. 


Obstacles ..... 


250 


XIII. 


What Hath God Wrought , 


26s 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING PAGE 

A Typicai. Shan Title -'' 

Raw Mateeial (Kachins) 30 > 

Kachins Sackificing to Demons 30 

Pounding Rice 40 *^ 

Dancing Girls 48 ^ 

Tattooing 56 '^' 

Buddhist Sheines 78 " 

Burmese Woman Weaving 90 ' 

Worshipers 116 ' 

A Karen Family 128 ^ 

Buddhist Idol 128 

The Last King of Burma 158 

Government House, Rangoon 164 

How We Travel by Cart and Boat 172 - 

Transplanting Rice 180 "^ 

Dorian Sellers 180 

Pineapples and Jackfeuit 204 

Elephants at Work 222 

Baptist Church, Rangoon 268 



Among the Burmans 



FIRST EXPERIENCES 

THE Chanda was slowly making her way 
with the tide up the Rangoon River. 
Two young missionaries, myself and 
wife, were leaning on the rail, deeply interested 
in the scene before us. The rising sun, sending 
its rays over the land, seemed to us a pledge of 
the Master's presence in the work to which we 
had consecrated our lives. On every hand were 
strange sights and sounds, strange scenery, strange 
craft, strange people ; everything far and near so 
unlike the old life that we had left behind. But 
it was something more than new sights and 
sounds that stirred in us the deep emotion ex- 
pressed in moistened eye and trembling lip. 
Thoughts were going back to the time when we 
heard the call, " Whom shall I send, and who 
will go for us ? " And now that we were about 
to enter upon the realization of that to which we 
had so long looked forward, hearts too full for 
9 



lo Among the Burmans 

utterance, were stirred with gratitude and praise. 
But not long were we permitted to indulge in 
either retrospect or prospect. As the steamer 
drew near the dock all was turmoil and excite- 
ment, — officers shouting their orders ; sailors 
dragging the great ropes into place ; passengers 
getting their luggage ready for quick removal ; 
friends on ship and shore eagerly seeking to 
recognize a familiar face ; waving of handker- 
chiefs ; sudden exclamations when an acquaint- 
ance or loved one was recognized. 

At last the gangplank is in place, and on they 
come, — officials, coolies, business men, hotel-run- 
ners, representatives of many races, and condi- 
tions, energy for once superseding rank; mis- 
sionaries well to the front to extend a welcome 
to the newcomers. 

What a power there is in the hearty hand-shake 
and cordial greeting ! To the newcomer, who 
has everything to learn and much to unlearn, — 
this warm reception by the veterans is a link to 
reconnect him with the world from which he 
seemed to have been separated during the long 
voyage ; a bridge to span the gulf of his own in- 
experience ; a magic-rite of adoption into the 
great missionary family ; a pledge of fellowship 
and cooperation for all the years to come. 

It was Sunday morning, — though few in that 
motley crowd either knew or cared. Mohamme- 
dan, Hindu, Parsee, Buddhist, and " Christian " 



First Experiences ii 

jostled one another, each intent on his own af- 
fairs, and all combining to make this the farthest 
possible extreme from a " day of holy rest." 
Little wonder that this first Oriental Sunday was 
a distinct shock to the new missionaries. They 
had yet to learn that on many such Sundays they 
would long for the " Sabbath- and Sanctuary- 
privileges " of the home-land. But soon it be- 
came evident that the missionaries at least, were 
about the " Father's business," each hurrying 
away to be in time for the morning service in his 
own department of mission-work among many 
races. To the eye of one who has just landed in 
Rangoon each individual in the throng of natives 
on the street seems to have arrayed himself as 
fantastically as possible, or to have gone to the 
other extreme and failed to array himself at all. 
But at these Christian services one sees the na- 
tives classified according to race, and learns to 
distinguish certain racial characteristics, — of fea- 
ture, costume, and custom. A congregation of 
Burmese is a beautiful sight, their showy skirts, 
turbans, and scarfs presenting the appearance of 
a flower garden in full bloom, but especially 
beautiful as a company of precious souls turned 
from their idols to the " True and living God." 

Among our first experiences was a warm ap- 
preciation of the kind attempts on the part of the 
missionaries to initiate us, by means of good ad- 
vice, into life in the tropics. " Now do be care- 



12 Among the Burmans 

ful about exposing yourself to this tropical sun. 
Remember, you are not in America now." 

" That solar tope of yours is not thick enough 
for one who is not used to this climate." " Flan- 
nel next to the skin is absolutely necessary, as a 
safeguard against malaria, dysentery, and other 
complaints so common here." " Now dear 
brother and sister, you must look out and not let 
your zeal run away with your judgment. Yankee 
hustle won't do in Burma." 

Dear souls, we thought, you mean well, but 
we are not subject to these troubles of which you 
speak. Their warnings sink about as deep as the 
remark of one of our party who ran down the 
gangplank just ahead of us : " When you have 
been in the country as long as I have, etc.," — an 
old expression, now under the ban. A few 
months later we began to take their advice. Ex- 
periences leading to such action will be described 
further on. Two days afterwards we reached our 
mission station, just as the sun was going down. 
While picking out our " luggage " (it was bag- 
gage when it left America) we received our first 
impressions as to the British Indian system of 
checking, or " booking," as it is called. 

A luggage receipt given at the starting point, 
called for so many pieces. Then we found that 
to each article was glued a patch of paper on 
which its destination was marked, and also a 
number corresponding to the number on the re- 



First Experiences 13 

ceipt. All well so far. The luggage clerk seemed 
neither to know nor care, but left each passenger 
to claim his own. 

We noticed too that everything imaginable 
was allowed to be booked, a certain number of 
viss in weight being allowed free on each ticket. 

To our observing eyes, each passenger's lug- 
gage indicated about how long he had been in 
the country, or how much he had travelled. 

Some evil spirit seems to possess the luggage 
clerk's assistant to glue the label in a new place 
each time, cancelling other bookings by tearing 
off loose corners of old labels. This custom is 
specially trying to spirituality when applied to 
bicycles, the railroad glue having such affinity 
for enamel that they stay or come off together. 
Another thing that impressed us was the sud- 
denness with which the darkness of night came 
on, as if " darkness rather than light " reigned 
over this heathen land, and could hardly wait for 
the usurping sun to disappear behind the horizon. 
First impressions of our new home we gained 
late that night, by the dim light of a lantern. 
Home, did I say ? As we peered through the 
shadows it did not strike us as being a place that 
could ever, by any stretch of imagination, seem 
like home. Bare, unpainted walls dingy with 
age ; huge round posts, some of them running up 
through the rooms ; no furniture except a teak 
bedstead, and a large round table so rickety that 



14 Among the Burmans 

it actually bowed to us when we stepped into the 
room ; lizards crawling on walls and ceiling, — in- 
teresting and harmless things, as we afterwards 
found, but not specially attractive to a newcomer. 
Oh, no, — it was not homesickness, only just lack 
of power to appreciate a good thing after the 
weary experiences of our long journey. In the 
night I was roused from sleep by hearing some 
one calling. Half awake, I was getting out from 
under the mosquito net, when my wife remarked, 
" Better get back into bed. It is only that 

taukteh, that Mrs. told us about." The 

taukteh is the " crowing," or " trout-spotted 
lizard." The English call it the tuctoo, from 
the sound it makes. The Burmans call it tauk- 
teh, for the same reason. Some declare that it 
says " doctor, doctor," as plain as day. Alarm- 
ing stories are told of this terrible creature ; how 
it loses its hold on the ceiling to alight in a 
lady's hair, and that nothing short of removing 
scalp and all will dislodge it. The worst thing 
we have known it to do was to wake the baby in 
the dead of the night, when we had got fairly 
settled to sleep after hours of sweltering. I have 
shot several for this unpardonable offense. The 
taukteh's sudden call in the night causes some 
children to suffer much from fright, though no 
harm is intended. 

Our house was situated on a narrow strip of 
land with streets on three sides, and school 



First Experiences i^ 

dormitory in the rear. Just across one street 
was a native Police Guard, but we did not know 
what it was until next morning. We had come 
into our possessions after dark, so knew nothing 
of our environment. These were dacoit times. 
Disturbances were frequent. Of course our ears 
had been filled with exciting stories of dacoit 
atrocities. The incessant and unintelligible jab- 
bering of the Paunjabby policemen, sometimes 
sounding as though they were on the verge of a 
fight, and the sharp call of the sentry as he 
challenged passers-by were anything but con- 
ducive to sleep through that first night in our 
mission bungalow. 

The new missionary has many trying experi- 
ences while becoming accustomed to the changed 
conditions of life in the tropics. Judging from 
our own experience and observation, covering 
many years, it seems utterly impossible for the 
returned missionary to transmit to the new mis- 
sionary, while yet in the home-land, anything 
like true conceptions of the life upon which he 
is about to enter, and how to prepare for it. 
Either the new missionary has theories of his own 
which he fondly imagines never have been tried, 
or he considers himself so unlike other mortals 
that rules of living, developed by long experi- 
ence, do not apply to one of his own peculiar 
physical make-up. But whatever his attitude of 
mind towards the new life and work, the fact re- 



l6 Among the Burmans 

mains that he has dropped down in the midst of 
conditions so unlike anything in his past ex- 
perience that he must learn to adapt himself to 
life as he finds it. The first place to apply his 
gift of adaptation is in the household. First ex- 
periences with native servants are decidedly 
interesting, to say the least. Our cook " Nara- 
swamy," " Sammy " for short, — came to us highly 
recommended, and neatly clothed. We had not 
yet learned that the poorer the cook, the better 
his recommendations (often borrowed from some 
other cook), and the neater his clothing, — also 
borrowed for the purpose of securing a place, 
but never seen after the first day or two. 

One day when « Missis " was giving directions 
about the dinner she called Sammy and said, 
" Sammy, how many eggs have you ? " " Two 
egg, missis." " Very well, you make a pudding 
the best you can, with the two eggs." At dinner 
no pudding appeared. " Sammy, where is the 
pudding? " Putting on a sorrowful look Sammy 
replied, " I done break egg " (spreading out his 
hands to indicate the two eggs), " one got child, 
one got child." When Sammy felt fairly sure of 
keeping his place, his two little boys began to 
spend much of their time in and around the cook 
house. One of our first rules was that no 
child should be allowed to go naked on the mis- 
sion compound. These two dusky youngsters 
had not a thread of clothing. Sammy was called 



First Experiences 17 

up and instructed that if his children were com- 
ing to the mission premises, they must be prop- 
erly clothed, at the same time presenting him 
with a suit for one child. The next day they 
came again, with smiles of satisfaction, one 
wearing the trousers, the other the jacket. Many 
of these Madrassi cooks are professing Christians, 
merely to secure a place in a missionary family. 
A small minority are Christians in fact. But 
whether a heathen cook sneaks off with a stuffed 
turban, or a professed Christian appropriates our 

food quietly humming " I love to steal, " the 

resulting loss to commissariat and spirituality is 
the same. 

Madrassi cooks, almost without exception, are 
dishonest. They will jealously guard " Master's " 
property against the depredations of all comers, 
but help themselves to a liberal commission from 
the daily Bazar money, — and catch them if you 
can. This has been their custom for many gen- 
erations, and is their right, from their point of 
view. 

When engaging a cook it may as well be kept 
in mind that his pay is so much a month, and 
. He will fill out the blank to suit himself. 

Take his Bazar-account every day, and make 
him show the articles charged for, but do not 
congratulate yourself that he has made nothing 
by the transaction. And yet his prices may be 
quite as low as his employer could get. Find 



i8 Among the Burmans 

fault with the quality of the meat, and he will 
bring a better article, but short weight. A 
stranger might conjecture that the meat was 
selected for its wearing quahties, as one would 
buy leather; or that they had heard of the 
mummified beef found with one of the Pharaohs, 
and decided that only such was kingly food. 

The cook is supposed to board himself. He 
does, and all his family connections. Just how 
he does it may never be known, but " Master " 
pays the bill, in " cash or kind." Bengalee cooks 
are much more desirable, but hard to get. Mrs. 
Judson's testimony to the faithfulness of her 
Bengalee cook may well be repeated here. 

" I just reached Aungpenla when my strength 
seemed entirely exhausted. The good native 
cook came out to help me into the house ; but so 
altered and emaciated was my appearance that 
the poor fellow burst into tears at the first sight. 
I crawled on to the mat in the little room, to which 
I was confined for more than two months, and 
never perfectly recovered until I came to the 
English camp. At this period, when I was un- 
able to take care of myself, or look after Mr. 
Judson, we must both have died had it not been 
for the faithful and affectionate care of our Ben- 
galee cook. A common Bengalee cook will do 
nothing but the simple business of cooking ; but 
he seemed to forget caste, and almost all his own 
wants in his efforts to serve us, ... I have 



First Experiences 19 

frequently known him not to taste food until near 
night, in consequence of having to go so far for 
wood and water, and in order to have Mr. 
Judson's dinner ready at the usual hour. He never 
complained, never asked for his wages, and never 
for a moment hesitated to go anywhere, or per- 
form any act that we required." 

The dhoby (washerman) is always a source of 
much distraction. He takes away the soiled 
linen on Monday, promising to bring it back on 
Saturday ; carries it to the riverside, stands in the 
water facing the shore, pounds it out on a flat 
stone with swinging blows, and, — brings back 
what is left. Garments worn perhaps but once, 
are found on spreading out, to be spoiled by long 
rents or mildew. Socks that have been filled 
with sand in order to strike a harder blow, still 
retain enough sand to cause much discomfort. 
One or two pieces are missing altogether. He 
promises to bring them the next time. In the 
meantime he has probably hired them out to 
some person of mixed blood and principles, or 
native aping European habits. The sweeper, 
waterman, and other native helpers slight their 
work, or perchance, with the poorest excuse, and 
that not made known until afterwards, — absent 
themselves altogether. " But why " — some will 
ask " is it necessary to employ these native 
cooks, washermen, etc. ? 

" Many of these women who go to the foreign 



20 Among the Burmans 

field as missionaries' wives were accustomed to 
do much of their own work here at home, — 
why not do the same over there, and so avoid 
the expense, — as many of us who support them 
have to do ? " In the first place, many of the 
missionaries have only one servant who is paid 
for full time, that is the cook. All others do a 
little work night and morning, their wages being 
made up by serving several different families. 
Again, it would be a physical impossibility for the 
missionary's wife to do the cooking and washing, 
adding the heat and smoke of an open fire to the 
tropical heat of the atmosphere. Some have 
tried it, only to give it up as utterly impracticable. 
Others have persisted in it, only to be laid away in 
a cemetery in a foreign land, or to return hope- 
lessly broken in health, to the home-land. 

It cannot be done. Moreover, it would be 
the height of folly for the wife to spend her 
time and strength over cooking utensils, dish- 
pans and wash-tubs. The wife, as truly as the 
husband, has consecrated her life to the Mas- 
ter's service. There is work for her to do, 
among the women and children, that he can- 
not touch. The missionary's wife whether 
touring with him among jungle-villages ; 
visiting from house to house in the town ; 
working in the school ; making her influ- 
ence felt in the church; or even when pre- 
vented by family cares or faiUng health — from 



First Experiences 21 

engaging in active service, — she furnishes the 
object lesson of a well-ordered Christian home, 
her life is of just as much worth to the cause of 
Christ as is that of the missionary whose help- 
mate she is. I can do no better than quote Dr. 
Herrick's beautiful tribute to her worth : " I never 
yet saw a missionary's wife whose companionship 
did not double her husband's usefulness. I have 
known more than one whose face, as the years of 
life increase took on that charm, that wondrous 
beauty that youthful features never wear, the 
beauty of character, disciplined by suffering, of 
a life unselfishly devoted to the highest ends. 
One of the choicest things of missionary work is 
the unwritten heroism of missionary homes. It 
is the missionary's wife who, by years of en- 
durance and acquired experience in the foreign 
field, has made it possible, in these later years, 
for unmarried women to go abroad and live and 
work among the people of eastern lands." 

When a young man or woman has once settled 
the burning question : Is it my duty and privi- 
lege to go as a missionary ? and has become fully 
pledged to that service, there is an intense desire 
to get to the scene of action as soon as possible ; 
to enter upon the grand work of proclaiming 
Christ where He has not been named. 

We had not long been in our new home before 
Burmans, both Christian and heathen, began to 
call to see the new teachers. They evidently 



22 Among the Burmans 

wanted to welcome us as their missionaries ; and 
we, in turn, wanted them to know that love for 
them, for whom Christ died, had brought us 
among them. But how helpless we felt! An 
exchange of smiles, a hand-shake, a few words 
that neither party could understand, — that was 
all. 

We found ourselves utterly powerless to com- 
municate to them one word of all that was burn- 
ing, — had been burning for years, in our hearts. 
Then it was that the fact fully dawned upon us 
that before we could hope to do effectively the 
work to which we had consecrated our lives, a 
difficult foreign language must be mastered ; that 
we must keep our consecration warm, from the A 
B C of a strange tongue until the time when, 
through the medium of that tongue we could tell 
" the story of Jesus and His love." First in order 
then, is to get right down to hard boning on the 
language of the people among whom the mis- 
sionary is to labour. He who fails to gain a 
strong hold on the language during the first year, 
will labour under a disadvantage through all the 
years of missionary service. Burdens are thrust 
upon him more than enough to consume all his 
time and strength. Hundreds of villages in his 
large district furnish a strong appeal to postpone 
study. 

The climate soon begins to effect him so that 
he seems to lose the power to study. In- 



First Experiences 23 

heriting a large organized work he is forced at 
once into service as a full-fledged missionary, be- 
fore a pin-feather of experience has had time to 
start. Interruptions are frequent and unavoid- 
able. How to find time for language study is in- 
deed a serious problem, — but he must find it, if 
his life is to tell for Christ, at its best. More- 
over, the missionary must master practically two 
languages before he is fully equipped for service, 
— the language of the book, and the language of 
the people. The formal style of classical Burmese 
would be as out of place in the jungle as the 
colloquial Burmese would be in the pulpit. In 
the one case it would not be understood, in the 
other it would give offense, — for one may not 
" talk down " to even a native audience. Hence, 
to be effective the missionary must at the same 
time be faithful to study, and to real contact 
with the people. It is no easy matter, after one 
has struggled through all the years of training in 
the home-land, thumbing Latin, Greek, and He- 
brew Lexicons until he fondly thinks that his train- 
ing has been completed, — to get right down again 
to the A B C of a new language. Here he meets 
something, that will test the soundness of his con- 
secration and of his staying qualities. From first 
to last our great missionaries have been men who 
have thoroughly mastered the language of their 
people. But it is perfectly wonderful how the 
natives will listen respectfully to the most 



24 Among the Burmans 

laborious attempts to speak to them in their own 
tongue. Not a smile at the most ridiculous 
mistakes, not a word or sign to indicate that they 
are not really understanding what you are driv- 
ing at. This excessive respect sometimes leads 
to serious consequences. The missionary, think- 
ing that he has made himself understood, is 
disappointed and hindered because things do not 
come to pass. The native is not wanting a 
sense of humour, and if he feels sure that you will 
enjoy the joke, he will point out the mistake, 
and join in the laugh over it. 

Unlike other languages of Burma, the con- 
struction of a Burmese sentence is the reverse of 
the English order. Many sentences may be 
translated backward, word for word, certain con- 
nective particles becoming relative pronouns, 
with a perfect idiomatic English sentence as the 
result. The eye can soon be trained to take in a 
printed sentence as a whole, and grasp its mean- 
ing, without stopping to render it into Enghsh 
in the reversed order. But to keep this order in 
mind, in conversation, with the word expressing 
action left for the last, like the snapper to a whip, 
is not so easy. In acquiring the language by ear 
a difficulty arises from the universal habit of 
kun-cliQwing. Never careful about enunciating 
his words, a wad of kun in a Burman's cheek adds 
to the confusion of sounds. With mouth half 
full of saliva, chin protruding to keep it from 



First Experiences 25 

slopping over, — a mumbled jargon is what the 
ear must be trained to interpret as human speech 

By this time the newcomer has seen enough 
of the climate, and of the side of society in 
which he will move, to convince him that his 
Prince Albert coat, in which he has been accus- 
tomed to array himself " every day in the week, 
and twice on Sunday " must be folded away in 
his trunk until such a time as he takes a furlough 
in the home-land. A fellow-missionary consoles 
him with the remark that he once wore back to 
America the same coat that he wore to Burma 
eight years before. Missionaries usually arrive 
in November, the beginning of the " cold sea- 
son." After that comes the " hot season," — but 
it is difficult to tell just where the one leaves off 
and the other begins. 

In any event, the newcomer soon " warms to 
his work." First the waistcoat is discarded, then 
the long thick coat gives place to a short thin 
one. For underwear, gauze flannel and singlets 
are in demand. Starched shirts and linen collars 
are reserved for special occasions. High-top 
shoes are relegated to the corner-closet. Even 
his watch hangs as an uncomfortable weight in 
his light clothing. In the old life he hardly per- 
spired once in the year. Now there is hardly 
once in the year when he is not perspiring. The 
drinking-water is so warm that it seems to have 
lost much of its wetness. What would he not 



26 Among the Burmans 

give to feel cool again. But he has not long to 
wait for his wish to be more than realized. Some 
night, after fanning himself into a restless sleep, 
he will wake up in a chill, to find himself in the 
throes of the Burma fever, to which he was " not 
subject." Then he will recall the lightly-regarded 
advice, repeatedly violated in every particular, 

and now As this is the first attack he will get 

his wife to treat him the first day with the home- 
opathic remedies in his morocco medicine case, — 
his last misguided purchase before sailing. 

There is nothing better to perpetuate a fever. 
On the second day, having recalled some more 
advice, his head will be buzzing with quinine, the 
only thing that will really help him, — as every 
man in the tropics knows. 



II 

LIVING LIKE THE NATIVES 

MUCH has been said and written about 
" living like the natives." 
Many have maintained that the mis- 
sionaries should abandon their former mode of 
living, and adopt the customs and costume of 
the people among whom they labour. It is said 
that old maids know the most about the proper 
way to bring up children. It is interesting to 
note that advocates of this theory of missionary 
methods are men who never have been out of 
their native land, and have spent but little of their 
time in informing themselves as to the habits of 
uncivilized peoples. Prospective missionaries 
will do well to provide themselves with the cus- 
tomary outfit, — to meet their needs while finding 
an answer to the many-sided question, — how do 
the natives live? 

For the present we will confine our investiga- 
tions to Burma. Let us visit one of the native 
houses, and see for ourselves. Running the 
gauntlet of several snarling pariah dogs, we pass 
through the muddy door-yard, littered with 
banana leaves, munched sugar-cane, and waste 
27 



28 Among the Burmans 

from various sources. The house is set up on 
posts, several feet from the ground, affording a 
shady place below, to be shared by the family 
and the domestic animals. The floor overhead is 
of split bamboo or thin boards, with wide cracks 
through which all sweepings fall, and ku7t-ch.eweYS 
lazily spit without troubling themselves to get up. 
At the back part of the house a corner is parti- 
tioned off for the cook-room, the stove being a 
very shallow box filled with earth. The cooking 
is done in earthen chatties over the smoky open 
fires. Near the cook-room is an open space 
where household utensils are washed and the 
babies bathed, the water falling through the open 
floor to the ground below. Month after month 
and year after year this filthy habit goes on, 
forming a cesspool from which a foul stench 
arises, offensive to nostrils and dangerous to 
health. This foul pool is a paradise for their 
ducks, its slime being tracked all over the place. 
The house is small, its thatched roof coming 
down so low as hardly to leave room for a full- 
sized door. Many of these homes have no out- 
buildings whatever, trusting to the pariah dogs 
and the crows, — the village scavengers, — to keep 
the premises in a sanitary condition. Some of 
the well-to-do Burmans live in larger better 
houses ; showing that not only is it impracticable 
for Europeans to live like the natives, but that 
natives when able, find it wise to live like Euro- 



Living Like the Natives 29 

pearts. This is a tropical climate, with the tem- 
perature at 112° in the shade on the day these 
words were written. It would be almost suicidal 
for Europeans to attempt to live in such houses, 
even under the best sanitary conditions possible. 
Missionaries have lived for a time in such houses, 
from force of circumstances, but always to the 
detriment of health, sometimes with very serious 
consequences. To a stranger, European " bun- 
galows" in the tropics seem needlessly large. 
" Globe-trotters " in general, and sometimes rep- 
resentatives of missionary societies, it is to be 
feared, visiting the tropics in the coolest season, 
— carry away this impression with them. In 
New England there is a saying •' You must sum- 
mer him and winter him" to find out the real 
worth of a man or beast. Could all who visit the 
tropics, or presume to write of conditions in the 
tropics, — spend a whole year in such a climate 
critics would be few, and funds for seemingly ex- 
pensive, though necessary buildings less grudg- 
ingly given. 

They who urge that Europeans should clothe 
like the natives would surely allow exceptions to 
the rule, on closer study of native habits. 

Among some of the tribes of Burma the ques- 
tion of wardrobe and latest style would be easily 
solved. Clothing like such natives would greatly 
reduce the expense for " outfit." Two strips of 
cotton cloth, one for the head, the other for the 



3© Among the Burmans 

loins, would meet all requirements even on state 
occasions. But apart from all questions of com- 
mon decency, it is to be seriously doubted 
whether the European would enjoy " sailing 
under bare poles " in a tropical sun. 

The railway trains are provided with first, sec- 
ond, and third-class compartments. Officials and 
wealthy business men travel first-class. Less 
fortunate Europeans, and people of mixed race 
but with European habits travel second-class. 
Natives, as a rule, go third-class, — but the rule 
has many exceptions. Not to speak of well- 
to-do Burmans and Chinese, who, though un- 
objectionable in dress, — are inveterate smokers, 
the " chetties," or money-lenders invariably 
travel second-class. They are the wealthiest 
men in the county, but with the exception of 
coolies, — they wear the least clothing and are the 
most offensive in their habits. The missionaries, 
whether on private or mission business, being 
unable to bear the expense of the higher class, 
and striving to save for the society which they 
represent, travel second-class. Now that many 
very objectionable natives have taken to riding 
second-class, it is no longer respectable for Eu- 
ropeans, except on rare occasions when the train 
is not crowded. For my own part, I seriously 
doubt whether this habit, on the part of Ameri- 
can missionaries, of taking an inferior place 
among so-called " Europeans," is a wise policy. 




R vw Materixt. (Kachtxs) 




Kachixs Sacrificing to Demons 



Living Like the Natives 31 

But whether wise or otherwise, lack of funds has 
made it necessary. 

Far from adopting the impossible costume of 
Chins, Kachins, Salongs and other benighted 
races, the missionaries are earnestly striving to 
develop in the natives sufficient moral sense that 
they may come to regard the matter of being 
clothed at all, as something more than a minor 
consideration. It is true that Burmans, Shans, 
and Christian Karens dress more respectably. 
In fact, their costume, at its best, seems to be 
very well adapted to the climate and their man- 
ner of life. But even this somewhat generous 
concession must be modified. 

The customary skirt for Burmese women in 
Upper Burma, and more or less throughout the 
country, is a piece of coloured cloth about a yard 
square, fastened around the waist to open in 
front. This style of skirt is said to have been 
adopted by a decree of the Burman King. Mul- 
titudes of Burmese women seem to have no 
disposition to abandon it for something more 
modest, even after eighteen years of British rule. 
Elderly women, as well as men of all ages, wear 
nothing above the waist while about their work, 
even passing through the streets in that condition 
with no self-consciousness. The Burmese skirt 
made after the most approved pattern is only 
one thickness of cloth, tightly fitting the body, 
not such a dress as European ladies would care 



32 Among the Burmans 

to wear. Mrs. Judson, ministering to her im- 
prisoned husband, felt compelled to adopt the 
native costume, to make her position more secure. 
But supposing the missionaries adopt the cos- 
tume of the corresponding class, — the priests and 
nuns, — they must go with bare feet and shaven 
heads ; all very well for the natives, but nothing 
short of ridiculous, as well as extremely danger- 
ous under a tropical sun, if practiced by white 
people. In the interior of China the costume of 
the people has been found very suitable for the 
missionaries, and a help to winning their way. 
But wherever the people have become familiar 
with European customs, respect is forfeited, 
Tather than gained by exchanging European cus- 
toms for those of the natives. 

A missionary and his wife recently returned 
from Africa were invited to speak in a certain 
church dressed in the native costume. They ap- 
peared, but in their usual attire. In the course 
of his remarks the missionary referred to the re- 
quest that they appear in native costume, and 
drawing a piece of cotton cloth from his pocket 
remarked " That is the costume, — you will ex- 
cuse us ? " 

Eating like the natives, — here comes the tug-of- 
war. The " backward tribes," — Chins, Kachins, 
Salongs, many tribes of Karens, and others, eat 
everything, — from the white ant to the white- 
eyed monkey. Worms, beetles, maggots, lizards, 



Living Like the Natives 33 

snakes, and many other such delicious morsels 
would form a part of one's daily diet, — a necessary 
part, unless the missionary has supplied himself 
with tinned provisions, — in which case he would 
not be living like the natives. But we will suppose 
that the missionary's lot has " fallen in pleasant 
places " — among the more civilized Burmans of 
th s plains. Rice will be the centre and substance 
of the two daily meals. Rice, well-cooked, — the 
natives can do that to perfection, — is an excel- 
lent food, and finds a conspicuous place on the 
bill of fare at every European table. But rice is 
made palatable by the savoury " curry " served 
with it. In jungle-villages, and among poor peo- 
ple in the town this curry will be made of veg- 
etables (not such vegetables as we have known 
in the home-land), and tender sprouts and leaves, 
seasoned with chillies. Devout Buddhists will 
not take animal life, hence meat-curries, if far 
from the market, may not be thought of. 

If the missionary has undertaken to live among 
the natives and like the natives, he must learn to 
do without meat. They will not kill a fowl for 
him. If he kills one for himself, he has broken 
his contract. But, perchance, an animal may 
die of itself, then its carcass will be parcelled out 
to all the villagers, and the missionary will have 
his share. In the town he may fare better, with- 
out breaking his rule. Meat slaughtered by non- 
Buddhists is on sale in the Bazar every day. 



34 Among the Burmans 

Buddhists as well as others may buy and eat, 
for the sin is only in the killing, in which they 
had no part. It is nothing to them that the de- 
mand occasions the supply. So what time the 
missionary spends in town he may have his 
meat. 

In spite of the commandment, " thou shalt not 
take the Hfe of any living thing," undoubtedly 
the most important Thou shalt not — in the 
Buddhist creed, with the penalty of the lowest 
hell for its violation, — there is no lack of fisher- 
men. Theoretically, they are the lowest of the 
low. But if all fishermen were to die to-day — 
their places would be filled to-morrow, and the 
market still be suppHed. The natives want fish 
seven days in the week, if they can get it. But 
not even a fresh-meat or fresh fish-curry is satis- 
factory to the native palate until flavoured with 
dried fish, or with " nga-pee." In the Bazar may 
be found smoked and dried fish in great variety, 
very tempting to the native, but betraying the 
fact that too many hours under a tropical sun 
were allowed before curing. This fish is often 
eaten raw, in blissful ignorance of the microbe 
theory, — indifference would be the better word, 
for their " microbes " frequently are visible to 
the naked eye. If these organisms have not 
actually eaten part of the fish, they are consid- 
ered so much clear gain to the consumer. Such 
food is largely responsible for the great demand 



Living Like the Natives 35 

for a strong vermifuge in the treatment of sick- 
ness. 

Now we come to " nga-pee " proper, regarded 
by the Burmans and several other races, as essen- 
tial to a well-flavoured meal. 

" The smell of nga-pee is certainly not charm- 
ing to an uneducated nose," — said a writer on 
Burmese customs, — a statement that has passed 
unchallenged. There are many varieties of nga- 
pee, but to all the remark quoted may be ap- 
plied. The most common is called fish-paste or 
" Burmese butter," made from the smaller fish 
which are caught in large quantities, as smelts 
are in the home-land. The fish are spread on 
mats under a tropical sun, just as they come 
from the water, and left there until in a condition 
which an " uneducated nose " would not care to 
investigate. 

They are then mashed to a paste, — a very easy 
matter, — salt is worked into the mass, and then 
it is packed away to drain. The oily juice is 
carefully saved in earthern jars, a highly prized 
liquid flavouring. When well drained the nga- 
pee is taken to market in sacks or in bulk, the 
indescribable odour always going a mile in ad- 
vance, when the wind is right. Passengers by 
river-steamers sometimes find themselves sand- 
wiched in between two cargo-boats loaded with 
nga-pee, fairly sizzling under a broiling sun. Pas- 
senger trains halting at stations sometimes stand 



36 , Among the Burmans 

over against a few carloads of nga-pee on the 
side-track, filling the passenger-compartments 
with an odour rank and unbearable. And yet this 
vile stuff is eagerly devoured by all races, and 
must be allowed a place in the missionary's meal, 
if he is to " live like the natives." Nga-pee fur- 
nishes only one, though a very self-assertive one 
of the many offensive smells of an Oriental Bazar. 
Many fastidious people never go to the Bazar, 
for fear of contracting some kind of disease. 
There is much in the condition of these places to 
furnish ground for such fears. And yet I never 
have heard of disease being so taken. It would 
seem that one odour counteracts another, com- 
pletely foiling all evil intentions of the spirit of 
sickness. 



Ill 

CUSTOMS OF THE BURMESE 

THE Burman is the proudest mortal on 
earth. Indeed, he is not of earth, ac- 
cording to his own belief, but has de- 
scended from fallen angels. Many ages ago cer- 
tain Brahmas came down from the celestial re- 
gions to dwell on the earth. By adapting them- 
selves to the habits of ordinary human beings, 
they themselves gradually became human. From 
these Brahmas or fallen angels, the whole Burman 
nation descended. 

The Burman recognizes no superior. The su- 
perior advantages of a training in the Western 
world counts for nothing, because the Burman 
cannot appreciate such advantages. At one time 
when in conversation with a Burman official rec- 
ognized as one of the ablest Burmans in the 
country, I dilated upon the extent, power, wealth, 
and resources of the United States, in answer to 
his many questions about my country. 

Wishing to impress him, I made the figures as 
large as conscience would allow. At last he 
summed it all up in the self-satisfied expression — 
" About as big as Burma, isn't it ? " A differ- 
ence of about 70,000,000 in population was not 
37 



38 Among the Burmans 

comprehended. He could conceive of nothing 
bigger or more important than Burma. The 
Burman kings posed as the Head of Religion. 
The king was more than human. His subjects 
were his slaves, with no legal right to anything 
which he might crave for himself. He could 
compel them to perform any labour he saw 
fit to impose. His titles indicate his high esti- 
mate of himself: " His glorious and excellent 
Majesty, Lord of Elephants, Lord of gold, silver, 
rubies, amber, and the noble serpentine. Sover- 
eign of the Empires of Thunapurtanta and Jam- 
budipa, and other great Empires and countries, 
and of all the Umbrella-bearing chiefs. The sup- 
porter of Religion, Descendant of the Sun, Ar- 
biter of Life, King of Righteousness, King of 
Kings, and Possessor of boundless dominion and 
supreme wisdom." That is all. It was well to 
be somewhat modest, as an example to the 
people. 

The king was " Lord of the White Elephant," 
for short. That in itself ought to have satisfied 
a man of ordinary ambition, inasmuch as the 
white elephant was a sacred animal, and had the 
" power of making its possessor invincible." 
" The white umbrella was the emblem of sov- 
ereignty in Burma, and its use was limited to the 
king and the images of Gautama." The Bud- 
dhist priest must be content with a more modest 
title than " Pongyi," the name by which they 



Customs of the Burmese 39 

are now known, — for pongyi means " Great 
Glory," and could be applied only to the king. 
But when the king fell into the hands of the 
English the title " Great Glory " went broadcast 
— to minister to the vanity of the thousands of 
priests and to be retained by them as a monopoly. 
Burman officials to this day are equally proud of 
their titles, from the highest in the land down to 
the Ywa-Thugyi, the village headman. To ad- 
dress any official by name instead of his title, 
would be a gross breach of etiquette. In the 
king's time official etiquette was scrupulously 
observed, even towards prisoners of the official 
class. Royal blood must never be shed, even in 
executions, A blow from a bludgeon on the 
back of the neck of the stooping victim, — or in 
the case of females, a blow on the front of the 
neck settled the account. Nor might royal vic- 
tims be buried. The body, enshrouded in a red 
velvet sack, was taken in a boat to the middle of 
the river, and thrown in. It is said that this was 
sometimes done without the formality of an exe- 
cution, a few stones in the sack answering the 
same purpose. Crucifixion was also common. 
It is claimed that in many instances the victim 
was first put to death and then the mutilated 
body bound to the bamboo cross and exhibited 
as a fearful warning to evil-doers. Dread of be- 
ing crucified led thousands to migrate to British 
territory after the annexation of Pegu. The 



40 Among the Burmans 

ugly terms " imprisonment," and " execution " 
were never used at the court of the king. There 
was a " keeping by " and a " clearing away," to 
suit the caprice of the king, scores and hundreds 
being massacred at once, on the merest suspicion 
of conspiracy. " Uneasy lies the head that wears 
a crown," was true of Burman kings, and they 
had a way of making all others of royal blood 
equally uneasy. 

One of the causes leading to the last Burmese- 
English war, was the famous " Shoe question." 
According to the Burmese custom, sandals must 
be removed outside the entrance, whether of 
private residence or royal palace. When a sub- 
ject of however exalted rank was admitted to the 
presence of the king, he must come in his bare 
feet, and approach in a crouching position so 
that his skirt would prevent his feet being seen 
by the fastidious eyes of the king. Heads have 
been lost for violation of less important rules of 
etiquette. Representatives of the British Gov- 
ernment were compelled to follow this humiliat- 
ing custom, — though they were graciously al- 
lowed to keep their stockings on, — and to sit on 
the floor at a respectful distance from His Maj- 
esty, Lord of the White Elephant, etc., etc. The 
Briton thought this inconsistent with proper 
respect for the government he represented, to 
say nothing of his own personal feehngs. Dip- 
lomatic negotiations were delayed, for the 




^ 



Customs of the Burmese 41 

haughty king would allow no deviation from 
this humiliating custom. Although the war was 
not declared on this issue, English officials who 
had been required to remove their shoes, found 
great satisfaction in requiring the king to re- 
move his crown. The custom of taking off one's 
sandals when entering any house still prevails. 
Entering with sandals on could only be inter- 
preted as a deliberate insult. When a European 
enters a monastery he is expected to take off his 
shoes, though the priest does not insist upon it — 
when informed that it is not European custom. 

If twenty men come to see the missionary, the 
last man must step over nineteen pairs of sandals 
at the foot of the stairs. But when it comes to 
head-gear, the custom is reversed. While Eu- 
ropeans would take off their hats, the Burmans 
do not remove their gaung-baungs, or turbans. 
The gaung-baung is usually of gaudy silk, and 
worn at all times, even at worship, by both Bud- 
dhist and Christian. 

When Saul had been informally proclaimed 
King of Israel, the people " despised him, and 
brought him no present." This would not have 
happened in Burma, as the attitude of men from 
whom presents would naturally be expected, — 
unless perchance they had ceased to value that 
portion of their bodies above the shoulders. 
Whether king, subordinate official, or private 
citizen, a present suited to the weight of the mat- 



42 Among the Burmans 

ter in hand was an essential preliminary to a 
hearing. Under British rule, Burman officials do 
not openly perpetuate this custom. They now 
content themselves with bribes quietly presented, 
usually through a third party, in place of the 
present once openly offered. But in social life 
the custom of making presents is a recognized 
matter of etiquette, even when visiting non- 
official superiors. It commonly takes the form 
of a tray of the choicest fruit procurable. But 
in the majority of instances it finally appears 
that some favour or other is being sought. 

Poor people sometimes come with a bunch of 
plantains or a few oranges which they beg us 
graciously to accept as a token of their great 
esteem, and then hang around the place waiting 
for a return present of ten times the value of 
their own. The European soon becomes suspi- 
cious of presents as likely to prove more expen- 
sive than the regular Bazar rate, 

A missionary to the Indians in British Colum- 
bia relates a story which, so far as motive is con- 
cerned, might have been matched in Burma. 
One day an Indian gave them two fat ducks. 
" What shall I pay for them ? " " Oh, nothing, 
they are a present for the missionary." The In- 
dian hung around, remained to dinner, ate one 
of the ducks, remained through the afternoon, 
ate the equivalent of the other duck, remained 
until bedtime, when the missionary hinted that 



Customs of the Burmese 43 

perhaps he had better go home to see if his wig- 
wam was where he left it. " I'm only waiting." 
" Waiting for what ? " " Waiting for the present 
you are to give me for the present I gave you." 

A peculiar custom that always impresses the 
newcomer, is that of doing obeisance, called 
" shikkoing." When the devout worshipper 
counts the beads on his rosary he repeats the 
formula with each bead " Lord, Law, Priest — the 
three precious things " or objects of his worship. 

As a counterpart of this formula he goes 
through three prostrations, with palms together, 
bowing his face to the ground in honour of the 
three precious things of his creed. These pros- 
trations are also gone through at confessional be- 
fore the priest, — one of the " precious things " be- 
fore mentioned. He does not enumerate his 
sins, but lumps them, declaring that for all the 
sins he has committed he prostrates himself three 
times, in honour of the three precious things, 
and hopes thereby to be freed from all punish- 
ments and calamities. In respect to both spirit 
and method this custom reminds one of a certain 
man who used to hang his clumsily written 
prayer to the bedpost, saying as he crawled into 
bed, " Lord, them's my sentiments." After his 
lump-sum confession he receives the priest's 
benediction, which is practically the same as ab- 
solution, and goes away, the self-complacent 
pharisee that he is. 



44 Among the BurmanS 

What astonishes and shocks the missionary is 
to find a heathen Burman at his feet going 
through this seeming act of worship. He feels 
as horrified as did Paul and Barnabas at Lystra. 
But he afterwards learns when he comes to un- 
derstand the Burman better, — that these prostra- 
tions before superiors are not intended as acts of 
real worship. He is merely showing his humble 
respect, as a preliminary to some appeal for favour. 

English officials require from non-Christian 
natives the same tokens of respect that were in 
vogue prior to the annexation. Native Chris- 
tians are exempt from all customs which savour 
of Buddhism. 

The idol and the priest alike represent Gau- 
tama, the only god the Buddhist knows. The 
attitude of the Burman mind may be illustrated 
by what a Burman Christian boy told me of his 
experience when he visited his native village. 
In response to an invitation he went to see the 
old priest, who had known him as a child. The 
priest was held in honour both by virtue of office, 
and his advanced age. The young Christian 
went through the customary prostrations respect- 
fully, and then said, " I do not shikko you as 
God, but because I do not know of any other way 
to show my respect." The heathen Burman is 
in the same difficulty when he appears in the 
presence of a foreigner whom he wishes to 
honour. 



Customs of the Burmese 45 

This Oriental mode of showing reverence, not 
necessarily worship, throws light on the word 
" worship," so often used by Matthew. 

The Burman is a religious animal, both terms 
emphasized. He has many religious festivals, 
and every festival is a feast. The casual observer 
would see but little difference between the street 
processions of weddings and funerals. There are 
the same tom-toms, the same grotesque dancing, 
the same stuffing of insatiable stomachs. Among 
Chins and Kachins such occasions are scenes of 
drunkenness and disorder. Not so among the 
Burmans. Many have contracted the drink 
habit by contact with Europeans, but the use of 
intoxicants has not yet become a national vice. 
The Burman attends all feasts and festivals be- 
cause it is unchangeable custom to do so ; because 
everybody else will be there, and he enjoys being 
in a crowd ; because it gives him an excuse for 
abstaining from work, which he does not enjoy ; 
because he can array himself in his best silk skirt 
and gaung-baung, and will find all the ladies 
there similarly arrayed ; and most of all because 
whatever the occasion, it will be a feast. During 
the rainy season, which coincides with " Buddhist 
Lent " no feasts or festivals are held. 

Funerals cannot always be postponed, espe- 
cially as there is much sickness in the rainy sea- 
son, but weddings are prohibited. Courting may 



46 Among the Burmans 

be indulged in on the sly, to shorten the process 
when Lent is over. 

At the beginning of Lent there is a great fes- 
tival, entered into with enthusiasm because it will 
be the last for several months. At the end of 
Lent there is another great festival, hilariously- 
enjoyed because the dull rainy Lenton period 
with its round of Duty-days without the craved 
accompaniments is over at last. Even the priests 
enjoy it, for presents to the monasteries, which 
had fallen off during Lent, will now be renewed. 
The young are again free to pair. The whole 
town is illuminated. Fire-balloons are sent up, 
with reckless disregard to safety of their houses. 
All are bent on having a good time. It is a 
religious festival, to be sure, each separate 
observance being in honour of some nat or 
divinity — but there will be time enough to medi- 
tate on all that afterwards. For the present it is a 
round of picnic enjoyment. 

The Burman era began in 639 a. d. The New 
Year begins in April. 

The month is reckoned from midway between 
two full moons. Any Burman can readily give 
you the date, according to the Burman system, 
but very few have mastered the European cal- 
endar. The date is given as so many days before 
or after the full of the moon. The New Year is 
always celebrated by the " Water-feast." Offer- 
ings of pots of water are taken to the monaster- 



Customs of the Burmese 47 

ies, the images of Gautama given their annual 
washing down, and then the show begins. 
Boisterous young men arm themselves with 
buckets or chatties of water, frolicsome damsels 
with cups, and the boys with bamboo squirt- 
guns, each and all bent on douching everybody 
else. By some means or other everybody gets 
his share. He would feel slighted if he did not 
receive a due share of liquid attention. The use 
of water at the beginning of the year has a relig- 
ious significance, — but let the priest and the pious 
attend to that. The young folks are in for a 
jolly good time, and they get it. At the begin- 
ning of November there is another feast in 
honour of the time when Gautama Buddha made 
a visit to the celestial regions to preach to his 
mother. Then on the full moon of November 
another feast in honour of the time when Gau- 
tama became a Buddha under the bawdee-tree. 
Lesser feasts occur at intervals until Lent begins 
again. What with all the religious feasts, the 
weddings, ear-borings, funerals, etc., etc., the 
Burman suffers no lack of enjoyment. He man- 
ages to get some fun out of everything, the 
funeral being no exception. He will dance and 
sing on the way to the cemetery, and race bul- 
lock-carts on the way home. The funeral of a 
priest often resolves itself into a tug of war. 
Two stout ropes are attached to each end of the 
four-wheeled cart on which the casket has been 



48 Among the Burmans 

placed. The crowd divides itself into two parties, 
the ropes are seized, and the struggle begins. 
Up the street the cart is dragged with a great 
hurrah, until reinforcements strengthen the op- 
posing party, then the cart takes a lurch in the 
other direction, its lofty spire swaying in a 
threatening manner. Back and forth goes the 
cart, the exciting contest sometimes lasting for 
hours. Merit is gained by drawing the pongyis' 
remains to the funeral pyre. Of course the pyre- 
ward side must ultimately win, or there would be 
no cremation. 

The rope-pull is sometimes resorted to in much 
the same manner to break a prolonged drought. 
Whether successful or not, as rain-makers, they 
have the sport. Is the Burman lazy ? he cer- 
tainly has that reputation, and I never heard it 
disputed by employers of Burman labour. His 
services would be better appreciated were he as 
punctual at the beginning of the day as he is at 
its close, and as diligent in the use of his tools as 
he is in keeping his cheroot lighted. He must 
have some credit for hard work to leave so many 
things undone. At " turning off work " he has 
no superior. He invariably turns off all the work 
he can, — and does the rest. And yet when one 
reflects that outside of the delta nearly all of the 
hard work of cultivation in the plains is done by 
Burmans one feels compelled to reconsider his 
verdict as to the Burman's capacity for work. 




o 



ft 



Customs of the Burmese 49 

No man can tell by a Burman's clothing whether 
he is rich or poor. All that a man hath will he 
give for a silk skirt. In " the good old times " 
when the king's will was law subordinate officials 
made demands for money wherever appearances 
indicated that money existed, to make up the 
amount of revenue called for. It was then good 
policy to dress below one's ability rather than 
above it, or one might find himself in an embar- 
rassing situation. Moreover, certain material, 
style of cut, etc., was reserved for royal blood. 
But when the king fell, and the Burman found 
that the conqueror's method of raising revenue 
was by equitable taxation, royal customs went to 
the winds. Young men and maidens, and even 
the middle-aged blossomed out in gaudy array 
on festive occasions, though there might not be 
a pice of loose change to back it. Of all the 
races of Burma the Burmese are the cleanliest 
and dressiest. The costume of nearly all races, 
at its best, is fairly respectable and suited to their 
manner of life, — if they would only keep it clean 
and keep it on. When one is about to die the 
friends say, " Think not of friends or of property, 
— think only of God." This sounds hopeful, but 
it is well known that these spiritual advisers have 
in mind only the brazen image of Gautama, 
found in every village, the only god they 
know. 

When a death occurs the pongyis are invited 



50 Among the Burmans 

to the house, not to console the Hving, but to 
perform certain rites on behalf of the dead. 

First a priest repeats a formula something like 
this, " He worships God ; he worships the law ; 
he worships the clergy," friends assuming the at- 
titude of worship as substitutes for the deceased. 
The priest continues — " He kills not, steals not, 
commits no offense against his neighbour's wife ; 
lies not ; drinks not. He has all his life been 
careful about these things." The formula ended, 
one of the friends drops water from a gurglet or 
cocoanut shell into a glass, to accompany an- 
other formula by the priest, " May the deceased 
enjoy the food of the nats. May the nat of the 
earth bear witness." The person who pours 
out the water drawls in a loud voice, " Ah-mya- 
myo " — in great abundance and variety, the peo- 
ple responding, " Thah-doo, thah-doo " — it is 
well, it is well. At the grave, or in a zayat 
nearly the same ceremonies are repeated. The 
priests have already been feasted at the house, 
and now presents are given on behalf of the 
dead, that he may enjoy the same blessings in 
the abode of the nats. The priests do not 
usually accompany the procession, but go in ad- 
vance to the zayats near the cemetery. At death 
a small coin is placed in the dead man's mouth to 
pay his ferry fare across the mystic river of death. 
Without the coin for the ferry he could not cross, 
but would have to return to this world to suffer 



Customs of the Burmese 51 

— nobody knows what. The use of the coin is 
said to be dying out. The coffin is swung end- 
wise over the grave seven times (sometimes 
docked to three) as a good-bye, and to give the 
deceased a good start towards the great Myin-Mo 
Mount, the abode of the nats. 

Human nature is much the same the world 
over. Courtship and marriage are universal cus- 
toms. Methods differ, but motives are the same. 

The majority of marriages are for love, or for 
something that has been mistaken for that sen- 
timent. When a Burmese young man and maiden 
fancy each other well enough to indulge in play- 
ful flirtations at pagoda feasts and other public 
occasions it is pretty sure to develop into some- 
thing more serious. The young lady is not likely 
to let a good chance slip by. Old-maidhood is 
dreaded by all, except the comparatively few 
who become nuns, and many of them are said to 
have become nuns because disappointed in love. 
Lover-like attentions may not be given openly. 
Clandestine meetings would scandalize the whole 
community. 

At about nine o'clock in the evening the 
young man, accompanied by his friends ap- 
proaches the house of the maiden whose charms 
cause his heart to thump against his ribs. He 
finds her awaiting his coming. But they are not 
to enjoy a fond tete-a-tete by themselves. 
Several young lady friends are sitting on the 



52 Among the Burmans 

open veranda with her, — and the old lady peek- 
ing through a chink in the bamboo wall. It is 
courtship under difficulties, but it means business 
just the same. The rules of propriety have been 
observed, the parents are satisfied. As for the 
rest, trust the young folks to find ways and means 
to enjoy themselves as lovers do the world over. 
Accepting presents of jewelry from a young man 
is generally recognized as an engagement. Many 
a maiden has allowed her fondness for jewelry to 
lead to complications from which she has diffi- 
culty in extricating herself. According to old 
Burmese law the sole right to select or reject 
suitors was vested in the parents. The daughter, 
until twenty years of age, was entirely under 
their control. 

The Dhammathat says : " Amongst men 
there are only three ways of becoming man and 
wife, which are as follows : First, a man and 
woman given in marriage by their parents, who 
live and eat together. Second, a man and wife 
brought together by the intervention of a go- 
between, who live and eat together. Third, a 
man and woman who came together by mutual 
consent, who live and eat together." In question 
of property rights the most importance is 
attached to the first method. A marriage with- 
out the consent of the parents, if the girl is under 
twenty, may be cancelled by the parents, if 
action is promptly taken. The girl may reject 



Customs of the Burmese 53 

the man to whom she has been betrothed by her 
parents, but her decision is recognized only after 
she has run away from him and been forcibly re- 
stored three times. In like manner a girl who has 
been taken in marriage without the consent of her 
parents must be restored to them three times. 
If she then returns again to her husband the 
parents' claim upon her is forfeited, because the 
" Owner of the daughter could not control her." 
Widows and divorced women are subject to no 
control. While all this is Buddhist law, the girl, 
as a matter of fact, does about as she pleases in the 
matter of accepting or rejecting, just as they do 
in other lands, whether she is under twenty or 
not. Neither Buddhist law nor established cus- 
tom renders any kind of a marriage ceremony 
essential, nor is registration of the marriage 
necessary. " Living and eating together," consti- 
tute all desired evidence of marriage. 

The first eating together is something done in 
the presence of witnesses and so becomes in 
itself a simple wedding ceremony. This happy- 
go-lucky custom makes it exceedingly difficult 
to settle any questions in law growing out of 
such a marriage. A couple may prove that they 
are, or are not husband and wife, as best suits 
their ends. In Christian lands the wife is some- 
times taken home to live with her mother-in-law. 

In Burma the situation is reversed, the young 
husband going to live with his wife's parents. 



5'4 Among the Burmans 

By a generally accepted division of labour the 
wife is the burden-bearer, while the husband gets 
the glory for what is accomplished. Husband 
and wife are going into town to exchange a 
basket of rice for a supply of putrid fish and 
other necessaries of life. 

The wife carries the basket, weighing seventy- 
five or one hundred pounds, on her head, the 
husband with only his kun-hag slung over his 
shoulder walking ahead at a gait which she finds 
it difficult to follow. 

The load may now and then be rested on a 
convenient stump, or the considerate husband 
helps to lower it to the ground and raise it to her 
head again. So accustomed have they become 
to this arrangement that it never occurs to either 
party that the man might carry the load part of 
the time. Familiar as is this custom, it never 
fails to stir in my soul an indignant protest. But 
the " worm may turn," if pressed too hard. 

A poor woman was going to the station to 
take a train. On her head was a heavy load, 
and on her hip a child. Tears were trickling 
down her cheeks. The husband, carrying noth- 
ing but his umbrella, was persistently tormenting 
her. At last she deposited load and child on the 
ground none too gently, and pitched into him 
with great fury, cuffing, scratchicig and scream- 
ing all at once, until he gave her a wide berth. 

It was one of the most refreshing sights ever 



Customs of the Burmese ^^ 

witnessed, in this land. According to Buddhism 
the male is far superior to the female. No 
woman can cherish the slightest hope of attaining 
to Naik-ban. Her highest hope and prayer is 
that in the next, or some future existence she 
may be born as man, and so take a fresh start. 
But in this hfe the Burmese woman holds a 
higher place than is enjoyed by her sisters in any 
other Oriental land. If divorced from her 
husband she can take away whatever property 
she brought when married, together with all she 
may have gained by her own exertions. She is 
by no means a silent partner in business affairs. 
Usually she has greater business acuteness than 
her husband, and does not hesitate to have a 
voice in all negotiations. The Bazar is almost 
wholly run by the women, each having her own 
stall and keeping her own accounts in her head, 
for she cannot read nor write. At this point 
women seem to be inferior, but it is because they 
were excluded from the monastic school, and 
never had a chance. Vastly better than her 
indolent husband or brother she knows how to 
make money and keep what she makes. While 
Mohammedan and Hindu women are shut up in 
harems and zenanas, the Burmese women walk 
the streets with head erect, puffing their huge 
cheroots without the slightest thought of being the 
" weaker vessel." The energy of the Burmese 
women saves the race from going to the wall. 



5:6 Among the Burmans 

From courtship and marriage we pass by a 
natural transition to child-life in Burma. The 
crop of babies never fails. Parents would as soon 
think of failure of the rice harvest as of a failure 
to add annually to the population of the village, 
and the disappointment would be about the 
same. If nature did not defeat the barbarous 
methods of native midwives there would be no 
child-life to describe. But in spite of methods 
that would soon depopulate more civilized lands, 
every town and village is just romping full of 
children. Boys run naked until six or eight 
years of age, and girls until one or two. Many 
a time have I seen parents, wrapped in blankets, 
huddled around a fire in the cool season while 
their infants and small children had not the 
slightest protection. There is no intentional 
neglect, for the parents love their children, but 
it is ** custom." This custom supplements the 
ignorance of the midwives, and adds to the num- 
ber of shallow httle graves in the adjacent jungle 
for the parish dogs to fight over. But baby has 
its cradle for its frequent naps. This is made of 
wood or wickerwork, and suspended from a 
bamboo in the floor or roof above. Sometimes 
this swinging cradle is a wide strip of cloth tied 
together at the ends, with the baby deposited in 
the loop. Baby has not long been in the world 
before it has a name. The name depends on 
the day of the week in which it was born. Cer- 



Customs of the Burmese 57 

tain letters of the alphabet are assigned to each 
day. The baby's name must begin with one of 
the letters assigned to its birthday. There is no 
family name, nothing to indicate to what par- 
ticular family a child belongs. Each day of the 
week represents some planet, from which it takes 
its name. The planet assigned to a particular 
day will influence the life of a person born on 
that day, and determine his temperament. The 
naming is done when the baby is one month old. 
On the previous day invitations are sent around 
to the elders of the village, who by eating a 
pinch of pickled tea from a cup sent by the mes- 
senger, — accepts the invftation to be present at 
the ceremony, the parents make ready a supply 
of food, a feast being an essential part of every 
ceremony. Invited guests bring presents of 
money, precious stones, or jewels, which they 
cast into a large jar of water set there for the 
purpose. Some of the more valuable presents 
are merely lent for the occasion, but they help to 
make a show. When the guests have enjoyed 
their pickled tea, betel-nut, and cheroot, several 
of the elders proceed to bathe the baby in the 
vessel containing the presents. Another repeats 
a benediction calling for the continuous welfare 
of the child, but limits it to one hundred and 
twenty years. From the centre of a circle of 
coins on a dish of rice a cord of cotton thread is 
taken and bound around the child's wrist. One 



58 Among the Burmans 

of the elders now announces the child's name, — 
previously decided on by the parents, — as if it 
were the happy result of his own meditations. 
This ceremony is to the Burman and Shan what 
a christening is to many in other lands, in its re- 
lation to a child's future. An interesting nam- 
ing ceremony was held by two couples of native 
Christians, in my mission. The missionaries and 
native Christians were invited to a prayer-meet- 
ing. After the meeting a number of Old Testa- 
ment names, written on slips of paper, were put 
in a hat borrowed from the missionary. The first 
fond father to put his hand into the hat drew for 
his offspring the name Daniel, — which he would 
pronounce Dan-ya-lah. The other father got 
Moses as a name for his son. Dan-ya-lah and 
Maw-shay they are to this day. 

It is interesting to watch little children at their 
play. With sun-dried marbles, large seeds, or 
peculiarly-shaped sticks, plays have been im- 
provised, which, in the course of years, have be- 
come national games for the youngsters. Boys 
and girls enjoy the sport together. 

Before the English annexed the country the 
monasteries were the only schools. This is still 
the case in the majority of villages. But every 
Buddhist boy, whether he has the advantage of 
the English schools or not, must spend a few 
months in the monastery. Until he enters the 
monastery as a probationer he is not considered 



Customs of the Burmese ^g 

a human being in such a sense that it would 
count in future transmigrations. He now re- 
ceives a new name, to be used so long as he 
remains in the monastery. If he finally becomes 
a priest he retains the religious name for life. 

The novitiate-ceremony usually takes place 
when the boy is between ten and twelve years of 
age. If not already familiar with life in the 
monastery, he is taught how to address the 
priests, and conduct himself generally. As this 
is the most important event in a Burman boy's 
life, the ceremony is made on as grand a scale as 
the circumstances and credit of the boy's parents 
and friends will permit. Decked in gayest cos- 
tume and covered with jewelry he is placed on a 
pony, or, in the towns, in the best vehicle ob- 
tainable, protected from the sun by a long- 
handled umbrella, and conducted to the homes 
of his relatives, to bid them farewell. Flashily 
dressed men and women, boys and girls make 
up the procession, some of the young men danc- 
ing and singing as they go. All this pomp and 
show, to celebrate renunciation of the world. 

The farewells being said, the candidate is re- 
conducted to his own home, where the feast has 
been prepared, and an elaborate bamboo tab- 
ernacle erected, extending from the house to the 
opposite side of the street. Here, in the presence 
of the priests, friends, and a host of gaudily- 
dressed spectators the actual ceremony is per- 



6o Among the Burmans 

formed. The candidate's finery gives way to a 
strip of white cloth fastened around his loins, 
forming a very brief skirt. Then the barber is 
called in to deprive him of his long hair and 
shave his head. After a bath he dresses and pre- 
sents himself before the priests, goes through the 
prescribed prostrations, repeats the memorized 
formula pledging himself as a novitiate, is duly 
clothed in the yellow robe of the order, the 
thabeit or begging-bowl is given him, and then 
he joins the other novitiates in their return to the 
monastery in which he is to live. How sad it 
seems to see a small boy thus shut out from the 
gay world, at just the time when he is fullest of 
fun and frolic, — but not half so sad as it seems. 

Devout Buddhists may compel their sons to re- 
main in the monastery three months, but to be- 
come a priest is not compulsory. In many places 
a week is the limit. Not infrequently a boy who 
has made the round of pathetic farewells, and 
gone through the whole ceremony of pledging 
himself to the Assembly, is back home again be- 
fore night, having met all actual demands, and 
exchanged his fine head of hair for an interesting 
experience. And right glad he is to be back, 
for the feast is still on, and he comes in for a 
share of the dainties. Comparatively few give 
their lives to the priesthood. Some enter the 
priesthood later in life. 

The longer the term — the greater the merit. 



Customs of the Burmese 61 

The number of young men to remain in the 
monastery is steadily decreasing. The same is 
true of the number of men who thoroughly 
understand Buddhism. The festivities have not 
slackened, but with less and less religious signifi- 
cance in the minds of participants. Having been 
in the monastery the boy has become a human 
being. But whether before or after this cere- 
mony he must receive the signs of manhood by 
being tattooed from his waist to his knees. If 
this is not done the boys and girls will poke fun 
at him and call him a woman. This tattooing 
may be done piece by piece, at intervals, to 
allow time for healing of the surface covered. 
The sessamum-oil lampblack used for ink, 
pricked into the skin on a large surface causes a 
great deal of swelling, and sometimes fever. The 
professional tattooer has his figure-patterns from 
which the boy or his parents may select. 

The figures are usually animals, set off with an 
ornamental edging. Fqw boys have the nerve to 
endure the pricking very long. This is overcome 
by a dose of opium, deadening the sense of feeling, 
and dazing the mind, though not to such an ex- 
tent as to keep him from pufifing His cheroot 
while the operation is going on. Besides this 
tattoomg of imitation breeches, there are many 
kinds of charms, done in vermihon on the upper 
parts of the body and arms, as desired by the 
superstitious. 



62 Among the Burmans 

Schoolboys have charms to protect them 
against the pain of whipping, young men have 
charms to make them successful in their wooing. 
Soldiers and dacoits have charms to protect 
them from bullets and ^<a;Mhrusts, and every- 
body has charms to render harmless all snake 
and insect bites. Besides the tattooed charms, 
certain objects are inserted under the skin, or 
carried about, according to the superstition of the 
individual, and representing about as high a type 
of intelligence as does the horseshoe over many 
a door in civilized lands. 

The custom of tattooing is said to have origi- 
nated many centuries ago, when the Burmans 
were subject to the Shan kings in Upper Burma. 
The Shans, who were themselves tattooed, — 
branded with tattoo-marks captives taken in war, 
as evidence of their servility. Instead of regard- 
ing this as humiliating, the Burmans were proud 
of their tattooing, as marks of the king. More- 
over, the despised Chins, wild tribes in the north- 
western hills, did not tattoo. A non-tattooed 
Burman might be mistaken for a Chin, which 
would be humiliating indeed. Tattooing became 
popular, the custom spread rapidly, and now a 
full-grown Burman who is not the proud pos- 
sessor of a pair of tattooed breeches that will 
last him a lifetime, is seldom found. In the 
jungle-villages nearly every boy is tattooed. In 
the towns the custom is rapidly dying out. Not 



Customs of the Burmese 63 

five per cent, of Burman boys in the towns have 
submitted to this custom. Town boys are much 
more afraid of being taken for countrymen than 
of being made fun of for departing from the 
time-honoured custom. In fact, the town boy is 
as anxious to have it known that he is not 
tattooed as the unbreeched village boy would be 
to conceal it. 

The fact that at the last census nine hundred 
and eighty six persons were returned as pro- 
fessional tattooers indicates that their business is 
still thriving, notwithstanding the disaffection 
of the town dudes. 

The desire to ape English customs may have 
something to do with this backsliding. This is 
also noticeable in the habit, now popular among 
town boys, especially in the schools, of cutting 
the hair short. Only a few years ago a cropped 
head would have stamped one as a convict. 

Girls are not tattooed except possibly an in- 
visible love-charm, — but they furnish a compan- 
ion-ceremony, when ear-boring time comes 
round. 

It answers to the time when a girl in the home- 
land begins to think of getting out of short 
dresses, to be a child no longer. 

When an ear-boring ceremony is announced 
everything else must take second place. The 
day and hour are fixed by the soothsayer, but he 
manages to make his divinations harmonize with 



64 Among the Burmans 

the plans of the parents who engaged his serv- 
ices. In spite of the frightened girl's screams 
and struggles her ears are pierced with the gold 
or silver needle of the professional ear-borer, the 
tom-toms and horns of the band outside doing 
their best to drown her cries. The holes are 
kept open until they heal, and then they are 
gradually enlarged by wearing glass or metal 
tubes of increasing size, until finally a tube half 
an inch in diameter can be inserted. In the 
olden time the lobe of the ear was stretched much 
more than is now the fashion. I have seen old 
women with holes in their ears through which 
two fingers could be passed. Such ear-lobes 
furnished handy holders for their big cheroots. 
This stretching and elongating of the lobes of 
their ears formerly had a religious significance 
that is now being forgotten. All images of 
Gautama represent him with ear-lobes touching 
the shoulders, as a symbol of perfection. 

Devout women, — and some of the men, — did 
their best to imitate his example. Ear jewelry 
may be inexpensive colored glass, or of gold 
elaborately designed and set with precious 
stones. 

Once her ears are bored the girl puts an end 
to all street play with small-boy acquaintances, 
and poses as a young lady. Changes are ob- 
served in the style of dressing her hair; in her 
costume ; in the use of cosmetics, — for every Bur- 



Customs of the Burmese 65 

mese girl, though naturally brown, desires to be 
white ; in her bearing as she walks the street ; in 
every pose of her graceful body. She may not 
have so much freedom of action as she enjoyed 
before, but she knows it will not be long until 
some choice young man will want her, to adorn 
his household. 

The one universal custom, common to all, both 
men and women, boys and girls alike, is the 
filthy habit of >^z^«-chewing and smoking. The 
hin-chew is made up of part of a betel (areca) 
nut, chopped fine, and an astringent green leaf of 
a certain vine. A little lime-paste, usually col- 
oured red, is spread on the leaf, then it is wadded 
up and jammed into the side of the mouth, with 
the betel nut. Saliva soon accumulates. To ex- 
pectorate would be to lose some of the small 
pieces of the nut before the good had been ex- 
tracted. Attempts at conversation are ridiculous 
and nauseating in the extreme. When the mouth 
can retain its load no longer its contents are dis- 
charged through a crack in the floor. 

The white pony of a lady-missionary was once 
tethered under a native house for the night. 
What was the lady's disgust the next morning to 
find her beautiful pony all stained and bedaubed 
with vile red hm-jnicQ. Smoking is begun be- 
fore teething is finished. I myself have seen a 
mother take a lighted cheroot from her own 
mouth, and put it in the mouth of a wee child in 



66 Among the Burmans 

her arms. Burmese ladies consider a cigarthe fin- 
ishing touch to their preparations for a dress-par- 
ade. But the Burman cigar contains but a small 
proportion of real tobacco leaf, otherwise the 
smoke-habit would soon kill off the race. They 
cannot both chew and smoke at the same time, 
but the twin habits keep them so busy that they 
accomplish little else. It is said that the Burman 
" smokes between chews, and chews between 
smokes." 

It is simply marvellous how far a Burman can 
smell a rupee, and what methods he will employ 
to get it. Has the mission work to be done by 
carpenters, cartmen, etc., heathen Burmans are 
not wanting who will regularly attend chapel 
services, and pose as devout inquirers so long as 
the job lasts. I have known fortune-tellers, 
teachers, court-clerks, and common rice-cultiva- 
tors to become pretended disciples with no other 
motive than to become preachers. They know 
that the native evangelists have regular salaries, 
and that the missionary takes a fatherly interest 
in their welfare, giving medicine when they are 
ill, advising when they are in difficulty. Though 
the salary is not large, it secures a fairly com- 
fortable living, which is more than many a 
heathen is sure of the year round. So the 
wily heathen comes to our people, pretend- 
ing to be deeply interested in Christianity, ap- 
plies himself to learn all he can, attends worship, 



Customs of the Burmese 67 

and finally asks for baptism, with every appear- 
ance of sincerity. One year we drew a prize, 
" Saya Tike " he was called. " Saya " because he 
had charge of a small private school. He was past 
middle age, of uncommon intelHgence, and fine 
bearing. A more earnest and devout inquirer, 
to all appearances, we never met. After some 
months of waiting he was baptized and received 
into the church. Then began his tale of woe. 
In consequence of his becoming a Christian his 
school had been broken up. Persecutors had 
broken into his house and stolen his clothing. 
Friendless, penniless, and out of a situation, he 
appealed to the missionary for something to do. 
Being fairly handy as a carpenter he was given 
such work on the mission buildings. After about 
two weeks he suddenly disappeared. Some 
weeks passed before we could get any clue to 
his whereabouts. Then one day one of our 
preachers met him in a jungle-village wearing 
the yellow robe of a Buddhist priest. When 
asked why he had left the mission he complained 
that instead of being employed as a teacher he 
had only carpenter work to do. He preferred be- 
ing a " pongyi," and have his food given him. 
Some months later he again turned up at the 
mission, professing repentance for his backslid- 
ing, and asking to be received back again. Our 
faith in him had been badly shaken, but we tried 
not to show it. If we would only give him citi- 



68 Among the Burmans 

zen's clothing in place of his yellow robe he 
would gladly go to work again. Giving him the 
benefit of a doubt I arranged with my right- 
hand man to give him a longyi, such as the 
other men were wearing. No, he did not like a 
longyi, but must have the more stylish puhso. 
His taste not being gratified, back he went again 
to his heathenism. We soon learned that all his 
pathetic stories of persecution had been trumped 
up for the occasion, to excite our sympathy, and 
secure a position. 

One day a strange Burman came to the mis- 
sion. He said that he was a Christian from a 
mission fifty miles away. On the train he had 
been robbed of his clothing and the little money 
he had. All he wanted was to be kept over 
night, and money enough to pay his way home. 
The case was referred to me. I placed the re- 
quired sum in the hands of my man " Friday " 
with instructions to give it to the applicant 
should he prove worthy. The next morning my 
man came to report, and to give back the money. 
I said to him, " Well, Ko Ngi, how did you find 
out that he was a humbug ? " Replying in 
broken English, he said * " Last night we have 
meeting (evening prayers). I think, you proper 
Christian, I make you pray. He no know any- 
thing. He can't pray proper. Then I say — Your 
Saya (missionary) how many chillen ? He say 
« Four little boy, so much big.' I know he Saya 



Customs of the Burmese 69 

done got five chillen, — one so much giriy indi- 
cating with hand a full grown young lady. So 
he had sent the man away without the hand of 
fellowship, and returned the money. 

Among non-Christian Burmans sin, of what- 
ever sort, is sin only when discovered. " How 
could it be sin when nobody knew anything 
about it ? " Deceit is practiced without a pang 
of conscience so long as the game can be worked. 

The missionary is kind-hearted, supposed to 
have plenty of money, like other " Europeans," 
and is considered legitimate prey. 



IV 

CHIEF RACES OF BURMA 

RELIABLE history of Burma dates back 
only to the early part of the eighteenth 
century. Burmese chronicles claim to 
cover a period from seven to eight hundred 
years before the Christian era. The Burmese 
language certainly was not reduced to writing 
earlier than the fifth century of the Christian era. 
Early history is founded upon legend. Doubt- 
less many of the events recorded actually hap- 
pened, but their dates are hopelessly mixed, and 
events themselves distorted by exaggeration. 
Measured by their records of the Burmese-En- 
glish wars of the nineteenth century, in which 
every reverse was written down as a great victory, 
— all of the history prior to the eighteenth cen- 
tury is utterly untrustworthy. Much may be 
learned from other sources, but the information 
is at best fragmentary and conflicting. In 1795, 
the time of the first " Embassy to Ava," histor- 
ical facts dating back to the early part of the 
century were gathered and verified. From that 
time the history of Burma, compiled by Euro- 
peans, is fairly continuous and accurate. In giv- 
70 



Chief Races of Burma 71 

ing a brief sketch of the chief races of Burma, 
the main facts of history will appear. The chief 
races, in order of numbers, are the Burmans, 
Shans, Karens, Talaings, Chins, and Kachins. 
Taken in the order of priority, the Talaings, ac- 
cording to the theory which seems to me to have 
most in its favour, — come first in order. This 
theory is that they were the first of all the many 
races of Burma to migrate southward from Tibet, 
or neighbouring parts of Asia. They seem to 
have been of the same race as the Burmans. They 
still retain the same general characteristics and 
customs, and cannot be distinguished from the 
Burmans where the two races mingle. The time 
of this migration is not known, but it may safely 
be placed many centuries before the Christian 
era. It is probable that they gradually drifted 
southward until they reached Burma. The Bur- 
mans, coming from the same general source long 
afterwards, failed to recognize the Talaings as 
having any kinship to themselves. The fact that 
the Taking language is utterly unlike the Bur- 
mese, both in root words, and in construction of 
sentences indicates that the two races, or two 
sections of the same race, as the case may be, — 
were kept quite distinct prior to the migration of 
the Talaings. The Burmans, who held the Ta- 
laings in contempt, finally became indebted to 
them in a threefold manner, — by the adoption of 
the Talaing system of writing, the Buddhist re- 



ni Among the Burmans 

ligion, and the sacred books in which it was re- 
corded. 

The sacred books were brought to Thatone 
from Ceylon, by Buddhist missionaries not 
earlier than 386 a. d. These books were writ- 
ten in Pali, which is still the religious language 
of Buddhism. The Takings soon reduced their 
own language to writing, not adopting the Pali 
characters, but drawing chiefly from the Tamil, 
with a change from the square to the round 
shaped letters. 

It is well known that there was a colony of 
Tamils near Thatone at that early date. The old 
theory that the Takings descended from the 
Telugus, and that their original home was in 
Talingana, is now generally discredited. Little 
is known of them prior to the Christian era, 
scant mention of them being found in Burmese 
chronicles, and having none of their own, cover- 
ing their early history. Whatever chronicles 
they may have had were destroyed by the Bur- 
mese conquerors. 

The Takings seem to have been in control in 
the first century, a. d., from the Gulf of Mar- 
taban to the upper Irawadi. They founded 
Pegu in the sixth century, but lost it, as well as 
Thatone to the Burmans in the eleventh century. 
The present city of Pegu was founded by the 
Takings in the sixteenth century, and they have 
since been known as Peguans. The term Ta- 



Chief Races of Burma 73 

laing is said to have been applied to them by 
the Burmese as a term of reproach, the word 
meaning " the down-trodden." They call them- 
selves Mons, — but " Talaings " they will be, so 
long as they maintain a distinct existence. In 
1385 they were again in power at Pegu, and two 
years later at Martaban. In 1410 they had ex- 
tended their sway to Arracan, which they held 
until 1423. The Talaings of Pegu and Marta- 
ban were conquered by the Burmans in 155 1. 
But in 1740 we iind them again to the front. 
Taking advantage of the recklessness of the Bur- 
man king the Talaings, in alliance with a colony 
of Shans living near Pegu, seized that town, and 
soon afterwards were in possession of Prome and 
Toungoo. In 1752, aided, it is said, by renegade 
Dutch and Portuguese, and with firearms pro- 
cured from European traders, they invaded the 
upper country, capturing and burning Ava, the 
capital of the Burman kingdom. Three years 
later Alaungpra recaptured Ava, driving the 
Talaings southward, and in 1755 followed with 
his army to Rangoon, destroying the Talaing 
power. The Burmans having regained possession 
of the whole country, retained control until they 
had to yield to the greater power of the English, 
Descendants of the Talaings who remained in 
the Pegu district, have practically lost their 
identity, readily and willingly passing as Bur- 
mans. The main body retired to the country 



74 Among the Burmans 

east of the Gulf of Martaban. In consequence 
of an exodus, probably more than one, — of 
Takings into Siam after unsuccessful wars with 
the Burmans, joining the many already in that 
country, there are now more Takings in Siam 
than in Burma. It is even claimed that Siam got 
her code of laws from the Takings. The census 
of 1 90 1 gives the number of Takings in Burma 
as 321,898. The number will increase year by 
year, as many are returning to Burma from Siam. 
Thousands of Takings scattered through the 
country doubtless returned themselves as Bur- 
mans, without so much as recalling that their 
ancestors were Takings. Many prophesy that 
the Taking language will in time, die out. This 
may be true, for the Burmanizing process is 
slowly, steadily, irresistibly going on. Nearly 
half of the Takings in Burma speak Burmese, 
many of them speaking Burmese only. But 
this still leaves a large body beyond the reach of 
Burmanizing influences, waiting for the gospel 
in their own tongue. If the Takings — as a race, 
are to be evangelized in this generation or the 
next, the gospel must be given to them in their 
own language. 

THE BURMESE 

The original home of all so-called indigenous 
races is still in doubt. The bulk of evidence 
seems to be in favour of the borders of Tibet as 



Chief Races of Burma 75 

the original home of the race known as Burmese. 
To one who knows the characteristics of these 
people it is difficult to conceive of such a migra- 
tion, except under compulsion. In the census 
report of 1901 we find them described as fol- 
lows : " The Burman as we know him, is 
essentially a non-migrating, unbusinesslike, ir- 
responsible creature, perfectly incapable of sus- 
tained effort, content with what can be gained 
by a minimum of toil." That the race ever 
voluntarily left its original home, whatever the 
attraction, seems incredible. The Burman him- 
self solves the mystery by claiming celestial 
origin. Brahmas dwelling in the celestial regions 
came down to dwell on earth. At first they 
existed as semi-supernatural beings, living above 
the ordinary appetites and passions of men. By 
extending their diet to kinds of food not allowed 
to such beings they gradually lost their super- 
natural attributes, and finally became like 
ordinary mortals. The Burmans proudly claim 
lineal descent from these Brahmas. Their 
argument, quite conclusive to themselves, is 
based on the similarity between Brahma and 
Bam-ma, as they call themselves. Philologists, 
with cruel disregard for the feelings of these 
people, have utterly spoiled their pretty theory. 
Brahma is a Hindoo term, introduced long after 
the Burmese migration. So now there is noth- 
ing left to substantiate their cherished belief, — 



^6 Among the Burmans 

except the national habit of wanting to eat 
everything they see. In both history and re- 
Hgion legend is inextricably mixed with facts and 
fancies imported with Buddhism. Burman tra- 
dition, backed by ancient ruins on the upper 
Irrawadi, assert that Sakya tribes from central 
northern India, migrating by way of Manipur, 
settled in Upper Burma a few centuries before the 
Christian era. It is difficult to account for such 
ruins as are to be seen at Tagaung, on any other 
theory. These ruins can hardly be the remains 
of work accomplished by any of the indigenous 
races of Burma, in their barbarous condition. 
The claim that the first Burmese monarchy re- 
ceived its stimulus from these Indian princes 
can neither be proved nor disproved. In any 
event whatever remained of the foreign tribes 
was assimilated by the Mongoloid peoples who 
were first in the land. 

An incursion of Shans before the opening of 
the Christian era, themselves forced out of west- 
ern China, seems to have caused the downfall of 
the kingdom of the Indian tribes, if they really 
had one. 

Shans, rather than Burmans, then became 
supreme in the upper Irrawadi valley. Not until 
as late as the eleventh century did the Bur- 
mans regain their supremacy, and even then 
the Shans continued to hold the country north 
of Bhamo. In the Burman war of conquest in 



Chief Races of Burma 77 

the south at this time, the main object was to 
secure the Buddhist Scriptures, known to be in 
possession of the Takings at Thatone. These 
sacred books, obtainable in no other way, were 
essential to the king's purpose to reform the im- 
perfect Buddhism of the north. There is some 
evidence that Buddhism was introduced into 
Upper Burma from India, by way of Manipur, 
several centuries before it was brought to Lower 
Burma from Ceylon. 

It is evident that Upper Burma did not have 
the Buddhist sacred books prior to the eleventh 
century. Northern Buddhism was only super- 
added to the existing rites of Naga, and spirit 
worship. 

In the south the sacred books had already 
been translated from Pali into Talaing, but not 
into Burmese. With the importation of the 
sacred books into Upper Burma, and their trans- 
lation from Talaing into Burmese, the real 
history of Buddhism among the Burmese 
began. 

It is not known when this translation was 
begun, nor when the Burmans, by adopting the 
Talaing system, reduced their language to writ- 
ing. Some of the later translations of Pali 
writings into Burmese direct, were made about 
the beginning of the nineteenth century. 

The Burmese " Pagan Monarchy," weakened 
by bad government and luxurious living, came 



y8 Among the Burmans 

to an untimely end in the thirteenth century, 
through an invasion of the Chinese. The Shans 
in the north held the balance of power, and may 
have agreed to the subordination of Burma to 
China, as the Chinese have always claimed. 

In the fourteenth century a new king, nomi- 
nally Burmese, but connected with the Shans, — • 
came into full power, and founded Ava. But 
early in the fifteenth century (1426) the Bur- 
mans lost their capital and all the territory north 
of Toungoo and Prome, to the Shans. The new 
city of Toungoo, built about this time, was the 
seat of an independent prince. Pegu had been 
ruled by kings of Shan race since 1281. In 
1538-9 the Toungoo Burman prince, Tabin 
Shwe' Htee, conquered Pegu, in the following year 
Martaban, and after being proclaimed king in 
Pegu, extended his sway in 1542, as far north as 
Pagan. Two years later, with an allied army of 
Burmans, Shans and Takings, he invaded and 
conquered Arracan, but not Chittagong. But 
his success as king at Pegu was short-lived. Ex- 
pensive but fruitless wars, and excessive dissipa- 
tion turned the people against him. He soon 
became the victim of a conspiracy and was 
treacherously murdered. In 1551 the Burmans 
were again victorious at Pegu, pursuing and des- 
troying the Talaing king. Three years later 
they regained Ava from the Shans, but retained 
the capital at Pegu. Pressing his successes, the 



Chief Races of Burma 79 

Burman king, in 1557, conquered the Shans in 
the extreme north of Burma, and a little later at 
Thibaw, Mone and " Zimme " ; northern Siam 
becoming tributary to Burma. Steps were 
taken to make the then non-Buddhist Shans 
(many were doubtless already Buddhists), con- 
form to the Buddhist customs of the Burmese. 
The Burman ruler, Nawartha, was now what his 
ambition craved, — the '* King of Kings." 

But before the end of the century Pegu and 
all the territory south to Tavoy had been lost. 
Between 1600 and 161 3 a Portuguese adventurer 
named Philip de Brito reigned as king of Pegu, 
with residence at his own fortified city of Syriam. 
By the marriage of his son with the daughter of 
the king of Martaban, the cooperation of that 
section was secured. In 161 2 De Brito and the 
king of Martaban marched against the prince of 
Toungoo, who had broken faith with De Brito 
by forming an alliance with Ava. '• They plun- 
dered the city, burned the palace and retired." 
This high-handed aggression soon reacted on his 
own head. 

The Burman king advanced from Ava with an 
immense army, laid seige to Syriam, and starved 
the garrison to surrender. De Brito, who had 
been guilty of many sacrilegious acts, destroying 
pagodas and other sacred objects in search of 
plunder, could hope for no mercy at the hands 
of his captors. The leading Portuguese were 



8o Among the Burmans 

slaughtered. The remainder, including the 
women, were carried away captive to Ava as 
slaves. Their descendants may now be found 
throughout Burma, many of them being Roman 
Catholic priests. In 1634 Ava was made the 
permanent capital. 

An immense pagoda was built, and a costly 
image of Guatama cast to add to the sacredness 
of the place, and to the merit of the king. 

But Burman fortunes were uncertain. Ava 
the Great was taken and burned by the Takings 
in 1752. Not long were the Talaings allowed 
to hold the Burman capital. A Burman who 
took the name of Alaungpra, with wonderful 
vigour and ability rallied his people. Little 
more than a year had passed when Alaungpra 
recaptured Ava. In 1755 he took his armies 
southward, conquering as he went, not content 
until he reached Dagon. There he founded a 
new city, which he designed should be the chief 
port of Burma, and named it Rangon (or Yan- 
gon), the word meaning the war ended. 

A legend says that Dagon village was founded 
and the Shwe Dagon pagoda built in 586 b. c, 
which is probably within a few centuries of the 
true date. The village was rebuilt by the Talaing 
king of Pegu about 744 a. d. The great pagoda, 
upon which an expensive htee or umbrella had 
been placed in 1540, was still further improved, 
" to rival the one at Pegu." (The present htee 



Chief Races of Burma 8l 

was placed on the Shwe Dagon pagoda in 1871, 
by Mindon Min.) But the Taking capital of 
Lower Burma, Pegu, had not yet been taken. 
We have seen that in 161 3 Syriam was destroyed 
by the Burmans because of De Brito's aggres- 
sions. 

Now, in 1755, both British and French traders 
were established there. During the struggles be- 
tween the Burmans and Takings, the Europeans 
hardly knew which should have their favour and 
help. Everything depended on being on the side 
which should prove victorious. 

Akungpra, after securing Rangoon, returned 
to Ava. This was interpreted as a sign of weak- 
ness, and thereafter the Europeans openly showed 
their sympathy with the Takings. When the 
Takings attacked the Burmese, they were as- 
sisted by the ships of both British and French. 

But alas, Akungpra returned early in the fol- 
lowing year. After a blockade of several months 
Syriam was taken and destroyed, including the 
European factories. The principal Europeans, 
after being held a short time as prisoners, were 
put to death. The downfall of Pegu soon fol- 
lowed, marking the end of Taking supremacy. 

Six years later, 1762, Sagaing became the 
capital of the Burmese Empire. Passing over 
the wars with Siam, Manipur, and China, we 
find the capital changed, in 1783, to Amarapura, 
a new city built for the purpose. The following 



82 Among the Burmans 

year Arracan was invaded and conquered. The 
most valued booty was an immense brass image 
of Gautama, cast in the second century, said to 
possess miraculous powers. This image, taken 
over the mountains, a wonderful feat, was placed 
in a building erected for the purpose, on the 
north side of Amarapura, the new capital, where 
it may now be seen by visitors to the " Arracan 
Pagoda." 

In 1795 the first envoy to the king of Burma 
was sent by the government of India. The en- 
voy was not well received, and secured no per- 
manent advantage. The following year another 
was deputed to be resident at Rangoon, instead 
of Ava. He met with the same discourteous 
treatment, and accomplished nothing. Up to 
1812 five successive attempts were made to ar- 
rive at an understanding with the Burman king, 
with reference to political and commercial rela- 
tions, but without success. Envoys were either 
ignored or made the bearers of insolent replies. 
At this time war between England and the 
United States was about to begin. Adoniram 
Judson was getting ready to sail as a foreign 
missionary. 

In 1823 the capital was restored to Ava. A 
great fire at Amarapura destroying some of the 
royal buildings, together with certain "bad 
signs," induced the king to abandon the city 
which had been in existence only forty years. 



Chief Races of Burma 83 

During the previous year the Burmans had over- 
run Manipur and parts of Assam, and claimed 
the territory as a part of the Burman Empire. 
The first battle ever fought between the Burmese 
and English was at Cachar — in January, 1824. 
The Burmans were defeated. In 1824-5 the 
British and native troops succeeded in driving 
the Burmans back into their own country. The 
bulk of the Burmese army had already been re- 
called to repel the British who were advancing 
from the south, war having been formerly de- 
clared in March, 1824. In the meantime the 
American missionaries, Judson and Price, together 
with all Europeans at Ava were imprisoned as 
suspected spies, or in league with the enemy. 

After eleven months they were transferred to 
Aungbinle, with the intention to put them to 
death. The first Burmese war lasted two years. 

Arracan, and all the country east of the Gulf 
of Martaban was ceded to the British. Ran- 
goon reverted to the Burmese. But the most 
interesting result to American readers, was the 
release of the missionaries, Judson and Price, who 
were utilized as messengers to negotiate the 
terms of surrender. After the second install- 
ment of indemnity had been paid, and the British 
troops withdrawn to territory ceded by the hu- 
miliated king the following record of the affair 
was added to the royal chronicles. " In the years 
1 1 86, 1 1 87 (Burmese) the white strangers of the 



84 Among the Burmans 

west fastened a quarrel upon the Lord of the 
Golden Palace. 

" They landed at Rangoon, took that place and 
Prome, and were permitted to advance as far as 
Yandabu, for the king, from motives of piety and 
regard to life, made no preparation whatever to 
oppose them. The strangers had spent vast 
sums of money in their enterprise, so that by the 
time they reached Yandabu their resources were 
exhausted, and they were in great distress. 
They then petitioned the king, who, in his clem- 
ency and generosity, sent them large sums of 
money to pay their expenses back, and ordered 
them out of the country." The record modestly 
omitted to mention the fact that the strangers had 
permission to take with them the Arracan, Ye, 
Tavoy, Mergui, and Tenasserim provinces ! 

The whole period from 1826 to the second 
Burmese-English war, in 1852, was marked by 
heartless cruelties inflicted by successive Burman 
kings upon all real or suspected offenders ; by 
persistent repudiation of the terms agreed upon 
at the close of the first war ; and by gross insults 
to British representatives. The second Burmese- 
English war lasted a year and a half, and resulted 
in the annexation of the Province of Pegu, which 
included Rangoon and extended to a point about 
thirty miles north of Toungoo. In about 1837 
the capital was again transferred to Amarapura, 
where it remained until Mandalay was founded. 



Chief Races of Burma 85 

in i860, by Mindon Min. A new king, Mindon 
Min, was soon proclaimed at Amarapura. 
Throughout his reign, from 1853 to 1878, rela- 
tions between the British and Burmese were 
greatly improved. Mindon Min was the best 
king Burma ever had. Moreover, the loss of 
Arracan, Tenasserim, and Pegu had inspired 
some degree of respect for representatives of the 
British Indian Government. With the death of 
Mindon, and the ascension of Thibaw, trouble 
began. The great massacre, in which about 
seventy of royal blood, including women and 
children, were ruthlessly butchered, called forth a 
vigorous remonstrance from the British Govern- 
ment. An insolent reply was returned, rejecting 
outside interference. 

In August 1879 the resident at Mandalay was 
withdrawn. Massacres soon followed, rivalling 
the horrors of the past. At this time many 
thousands of Burmese migrated to Lower Burma 
to escape oppression. 

Thibaw then began a flirtation with France. 
The Bombay Burma Trading Company was 
accused of defrauding the king in the matter of 
royalty on teak logs. An enormous fine was in- 
flicted. Arbitration was rejected. The French 
were conspiring with the king to gain commer- 
cial advantages, giving them practically full con- 
trol of Upper Burma, including the only route to 
western China. In June^ 1885, the government 



86 Among the Burmans 

of India obtained conclusive evidence as to the 
nature of these negotiations. A demand was 
made that a British resident be received at Man- 
dalay, and that Thibaw reveal his foreign policy. 
This ultimatum was refused. The British imme- 
diately advanced on the capital. On the 28th of 
November, 1885, Mandalay was taken, and King 
Thibaw made a prisoner. The great, self-suffi- 
cient Burman kingdom had fallen to rise no more. 

French diplomatists had outreached them- 
selves, and precipitated the annexation of Upper 
Burma. 

On the first of January, 1886, the following 
proclamation was issued : " By command of the 
Queen-Empress it is hereby notified that the ter- 
ritories formerly governed by King Thibaw will 
no longer be under his rule, but have become a 
part of Her Majesty's dominions, and will during 
Her Majesty's pleasure, be administered by such 
officers as the viceroy and government of India 
may from time to time appoint." 

It will be seen that the Burmese throughout 
their history have been a warlike people. The 
adoption of Buddhism, as the national religion, 
with its strict rules concerning the taking of life, 
does not seem to have wrought any change in 
this respect. The grossest cruelties were prac- 
ticed, suspected conspirators slaughtered by hun- 
dreds, generals who had failed in battle, as well 
as others of high rank or noble blood were exe- 



Chief Races of Burma 87 

cuted, sewed up in red sacks, and sunk in the 
Irrawadi River. Sometimes the preliminary ex- 
ecution was dispensed with. 

Victorious kings built great pagodas, at the 
expense of the people, to expiate their sins of 
bloodshed, — and then renewed the carnage. 

The cruelties inflicted upon Judson and his 
companions at Ava and Aungbinle ; the history 
of Burman dacoity since the English occupation ; 
together with many other evidences, — stamp the 
Burman as far from being the tolerant, peace- 
loving, life-reverencing character that many of 
his admirers, on the interest of Buddhism, or 
Theosophy, have pictured. It is said that a pro- 
fessor in a certain theological seminary, seeking 
to cast discredit on the historical authenticity of 
the Book of Daniel, called the attention of his 
class to the unlikelihood that any Oriental mon- 
arch would have issed such decrees as are at- 
tributed to Nebuchadnezzar, in the third chapter. 
To say nothing of Mohammedan fanaticism, 
familiarity with Oriental character as exhibited 
by Burman kings would have dispelled the pro- 
fessor's doubts. 

When Naungdawgyi had completed the great 
Shwe Dagon pagoda, in comparison with which 
Nebuchadnezzar's image was Liliputian, he made 
a decree that all peoples must fall down and wor- 
ship it, on penalty of death. The majority of 
the people being spirit-worshippers, the decree 



88 Among the Burmans 

could not be enforced. To let himself down 
easily, the king commanded that a nat-sin, or 
spirit-house be erected near the pagoda. The 
people coming to make offerings to the nats — 
would also be coming to the pagoda, and so the 
decree would be obeyed, and, in time, its pur- 
pose effected. The character of the Burman king 
Bodaw-para, who was on the throne when Judson 
came to Burma, is thus described by Father San- 
Germano, who lived in Burma twenty years 
during this king's reign. " His very countenance 
is the index of a mind ferocious and inhuman in 
the highest degree, — and it would not be an ex- 
aggeration to assert that during his reign more 
victims have fallen by the hand of the executioner 
than by the sword of the common enemy. . . . 

" The good fortune that has attended him 
. . . has inspired him with the idea that he 
is something more than mortal, and that this 
privilege has been granted him on account of his 
numerous good works . . . 

" A few years since he thought to make him- 
self a god." He did in fact, proclaim himself as 
the fulfillment of the national expectation of a 
fifth Buddha. Priests who refused to recognize 
his claims, were punished. Who can doubt that 
the late King Thibaw would have been quite 
capable of repeating Nebuchadnezzar's decree, 
had he thought of it, and seen any advantage in 
it, to himself. 



Chief Races of Burma 89 

The census of 1901 gives the total population 
of the province as 10,490,624. Of this total the 
Burmese number 6,508,682, while the number 
returning the Burmese language as their ordinary 
tongue was 7,006,495. The total number of 
Buddhists, including the Shans and Takings, is 
9,184,121. The area of the province is 286,738 
square miles. To the casual visitor the country 
seems to be peopled almost exclusively by Bur- 
mese, and Buddhism the only form of worship, 
the other races inhabiting isolated parts of the 
country, far removed from the main lines of 
travel. The population of Rangoon is about 
235,000. Buddhists and Hindus number about 
the same, with more than half as many Musal- 
mans as of either. Fifty per cent, of the popu- 
lation are immigrants. Rangoon is no longer a 
Burman city. 

In Mandalay, their last capital, and second city 
of Burma, the situation is quite different. In a 
total of 178,000 over 152,000 are Buddhists. 
This city has been in existence only sixty-three 
years. Its outward appearance is much the same 
as it was when taken by the British in 1885. 
The same brick wall, twenty-six feet high, with its 
crenelated top, a mile and a quarter on each side 
of the square, forming an impregnable ( ! ) barrier 
against all comers, — still surrounds what was the 
royal town. On each side are three gates, 
reached by bridges across the wide moat, which 



90 Among the Burmans 

is kept filled with water by a connection with a 
natural lake a few miles to the northeast. 

Inside of the walled town comparatively little 
now remains as it was when captured. The 
natives- occupying thatched houses, were com- 
pelled to move outside the wall, taking their 
shanties with them. For this they were 
amply compensated by the British Indian Gov- 
ernment. A large city, regularly laid out with 
straight wide streets, was already flourishing out- 
side of the walled section. Within the walls the 
palace and monasteries still remain, the former 
now being restored by the provincial govern- 
ment, at great expense. Services of the Church 
of England are held in one of the large halls. 
In one of the buildings near the palace the 
Mandalay Club is comfortably established. 
Several old cannon, used by the Burmese in 
their wars, more for the noise they could make 
than for any death-dealing powers they possessed, 
now adorn the grounds. The king's monastery, 
and the queen's monastery, are objects of inter- 
est. Near the former is the site of the 
" Incomparable " temple, destroyed by fire in 
1892. This immense structure, with its gilded 
columns and lofty ceiling, was the grandest 
building in the city. Near by is a huge pagoda 
within a high rectangular wall. The space en- 
closed is subdivided into three compartments by 
low walls extending around the pagoda, to 



Chief Races of Burma 91 

represent the threefold division of the Buddhist 
scriptures. These spaces contain seven hundred 
and twenty shrines about fifteen feet high, their 
tops supported by four columns. In the centre 
of each shrine, set like a gravestone in the 
cement floor, is a stone tablet about three feet 
wide by five and a half feet high, covered on 
both sides with portions of the sacred writings. 
The floor around each tablet is polished by the 
bare feet of many devotees, — for the " Law " is 
one of the " three precious things " of Bud- 
dhism — commanding their worship. For all this 
immense outlay of time and money devoted to 
sacred objects Mindon Min is supposed to have 
secured the royal merit, freeing him from the 
countless existences through which the ordinary 
mortal must pass. The prevailing impression 
that as a result of the monastic school system all 
of the Burmese males can read and write, is not 
corroborated by the recent census. A little less 
than half (490 in each i ,000) are able to both read 
and write. Doubtless a large majority spent 
enough of their childhood in the monastery to 
acquire these accomplishments, but, to many, 
they have become lost arts, through disuse. 
Only fifty-five in each thousand of Burmese 
women can read and write. Girls are not ad- 
mitted to monastic schools. This small gain is 
chiefly due to mission schools. The demand for 
female education is rapidly increasing. Ail 



92 Among the Burmans 

Burmans, except the relatively small number of 
converts to Christianity, are Buddhists. Nearly 
all are worshippers of idols. 

A sect called Paramats was founded at the be- 
ginning of last century. The Paramats will have 
nothing to do with pagodas and idols. They re- 
spect the ordinary Buddhist priests, as represent- 
atives of Gautama, who was the incarnation of 
eternal wisdom. They do not hold that eternal 
wisdom is reincarnated in the priests, and there- 
fore do not worship them as orthodox Buddhists 
do. This eternal wisdom, which existed before 
the world was made, and will exist throughout 
eternity, fills all space, but exercises no influence 
over this world. Eternal wisdom is not, except 
in a very vague sense, personified — as an equiv- 
alent of the Christian conception of an eternal 
God. But the Paramats have the germ of a true 
belief, and, as a rule, are thinking men, which is 
more than can be said of the ordinary Buddhist. 
Numerous in the district midway between Man- 
dalay, and Rangoon, they furnish a hopeful field 
for missionary effort. 

THE SHANS 

The Shans rank second in point of numbers. 
Max Muller held that the Shans were the first to 
leave their original home in western China. 
Contact with the Chinese has left its mark upon 
them, sufficient, apart from other evidence, to 



Chief Races of Burma 93 

V 

prove their origin. Having been forced out of 
western China they drifted southward, and 
founded some of the large towns in the territory 
now known as " Shan-land " as early as 400, or 
500 B, c. — if their own chronicles can be be- 
lieved. But at this point different conclusions 
have been reached from the same sources of in- 
formation, some accepting these dates as ap- 
proximately correct, others rejecting them as too 
remote by several centuries. Indeed, it is difficult 
to determine whether the first migration was 
southward, or to the southwest, or whether there 
were two migrations simultaneously. As we 
have seen in our study of the Burmese, the 
Shans were supreme on the Upper Irrawadi 
early in the Christian era, having expelled the 
Burmese and taken possession of that part of the 
country. It may have been as early as 400 or 
500 B. c, when they overthrew the Tagaung 
monarchy. My own view is that the Shans first 
migrated to the southwest across the Namkham 
valley, founding the " Maw Kingdom," which 
finally extended to the Irrawadi and Chindwin 
rivers in northern Burma. And that not until 
several centuries later did they extend their sway 
to the southeast, founding Thibaw, Mone, and 
other towns. 

That there is a discrepancy of ten centuries or 
more between this view and the Shan Chronicles, 
in which the most striking feature is exaggeration. 



94 Among the Burmans 

need not disturb any one. In fact, a sound 
" principle of interpretation " of legendary history, 
whether Burmese or Shan, is to cut down its 
figures by about one half. 

Near the end of the tenth century the Shans 
occupied Arracan about eighteen years. The 
Shan kingdom continued until overcome by the 
Burmese, in the middle of the eleventh century. 
They still remained in power in the far north. 
In 1 28 1 Shans from Siam joining with Shans of 
Martaban, conquered Martaban, then with assist- 
ance of Shans from the north they captured Pegu 
from the Burmans. At the beginning of the 
fourteenth century the Shans were again in the 
ascendant in Upper Burma, the Burmans having 
been weakened by Chinese invasions. The 
Shans now ruled the country from the upper 
reaches of the Irrawadi as far south as Prome, 
but not including Toungoo. All Burma was 
threatened with Shan supremacy. This might 
have been realized but for the Shan emperor's 
own recklessness and tyranny, working his own 
downfall. 

Kings of Shan race controlled Pegu from 1281 
until conquered by the Toungoo Burman prince, 
Tabin Shwe' Htee, in 1 5 39. The Shan power in 
the north having become weakened, the Bur- 
mese in 1554, captured Ava, and in 1557 con- 
quered the Shans throughout the Upper Irra- 
wadi region. Thibaw, Mone, and " Zimme " in 



Chief Races of Burma 95 

northern Siam, fell to the Burmans a year later. 
The Shans seem to have remained subject to the 
Burman kings until the annexation of Upper 
Burma ; and sometimes assisted the Burmans in 
their wars with the Talaings and Siamese. 

The census of 1901 gives a total of 751,759 
Shan-speaking people. 

Besides the northern and southern Shan 
States, a large number of Shans are still found in 
Upper Burma, and many Shan villages through- 
out Lower Burma. It is not definitely known 
when the Shans adopted Buddhism. There are 
evidences that the Shans, who were supreme 
on the Upper Irrawadi at the opening of the 
Christian era, and for several centuries after, were 
influenced by Buddhism introduced from India 
by way of Manipur, and that many accepted it. 
After the introduction of Buddhism from the 
south it spread rapidly among the Burmese, and 
through them to the Shans, becoming the 
national religion of both races. 

It is said that many Shan Buddhist priests 
sought reordination according to the rules of the 
southern type of Buddhism. 

The Shans established monasteries throughout 
their country. Under the later Burman kings, 
Burman priests were sent to propagate Bud- 
dhism in the Shan country. In some places the 
sacred books were destroyed, and other books 
written in the Burmese language substituted, 



96 Among the Burmans 

Burmese becoming the language of the Monastic 
schools for Shan boys, 

Burman kings adopted the same tactics in deal- 
ing with the Takings. 

The customs of the Shans and the Burmese 
are much the same, but their costume is more like 
that of the Chinese. The same is true of the 
Karen costume. Though differing from the cos-, 
tume of the Shan, both seem to have been de- 
rived from their contact with the Chinese before 
their migration to Burma. The broad lopped- 
rim Shan hat and flowing trousers with the seat 
between the knees differentiate the Shan from 
other races. They have a written language, 
adopted from the Burmese, — some four or five 
hundred years ago, — as the Burmese had 
adopted theirs from the Talaing. 

THE KARENS 

The Karens found their way in Burma from 
western China ; forced southward by the Chinese. 
Then when the Shans were in like manner driven 
into Burma, the Karens were pushed on still 
further south, like driftwood before the tide. 
Their original home is uncertain. It seems evi- 
dent that at a much earlier period they had 
migrated into western China from some place 
still further north. One of their own traditions 
is that their ancestors, in their wanderings, 
crossed a " river of sand." 



Chief Races of Burma 97 

The desert of Gobi best answers to their 
tradition. Other traditions point to western 
China as their early home. It is not unlikely that 
the tradition of the " river of sand " is much the 
older, and these traditions taken together mark 
the progress of the Karens in at least two widely 
separated migrations southward. The Karens 
strongly resemble certain hill-tribes now living in 
western China ; in fact some of the Karens have 
identically the same customs, as these China hill- 
tribes, who are also said to have the tradition of a 
" river of sand." 

There are three main divisions of the Karens, 
known as Pwo, Sgaw, and Karennee or " Red 
Karens." This threefold division antedates 
their migration to Burma. The Pwos, some- 
times called " the mother race," are supposed to 
have been the first arrivals, working their way 
south by the way of the valleys of the Salwen 
and Mekong Rivers ; followed by the Sgaws, and 
finally by the Karennees, though it is doubtful 
whether there was any interval between these main 
divisions in the general migration. But in some 
way they have — to this day — maintained the dis- 
tinction. It is probable that for a time the 
Karens held the territory now known as the 
eastern Shan states, and all the upper Salwen 
region. The coming of the Shans, whether from 
the north or west, drove them southward, each of 
these tribal divisions advancing under compulsion 



98 Among the Burmans 

in the same order in which they first entered the 
country. 

The Pwos are now found in the delta and still 
farther south in the Maulmain district ; the 
Karennees farther north, bordering on the Shan 
country, and east to the Siam border ; the Sgaws 
keeping to the central territory, in the Toungoo 
district and diagonally across to Bassein, sharing 
parts of the delta with the Pwos. A large body 
of Sgaw Karens, as well as many Pwos, are found 
in the Tavoy district, farthest south of all. The 
Tavoy Karens drifted in from Siam, not extend- 
ing to the seacoast until early in the last century. 

There is now a continuous chain of Karens 
from Tavoy far into the north of Siam. In gen- 
eral, the Karens live in the highlands, the Bur- 
mans occupying the plains. Formerly this was 
partly from choice, but unavoidable whether from 
choice or not, on account of the cruel oppression 
suffered at the hands of the more powerful Bur- 
mans. But under British rule many Karens have 
come down to the plains, and forming villages of 
their own, have engaged in cultivation. They 
still like to be within easy reach of the moun- 
tains, to which they resort for game and other 
food. 

In the shady ravines they have profitable gar- 
dens of betel (areca) palms, the nut being es- 
sential to any native's happiness, and command- 
ing a ready sale. Some writers have advanced 



Chief Races of Burma 99 

the theory that the religious traditions of the 
Karens were derived from their supposed contact 
with Nestorian Jews in western China. This 
can hardly be true — as it places the migration 
of the Karens to Burma at much too late a date. 

The Nestorians did not begin their work in 
western China until 505 a. d., closing it in 1368, 
when they were expelled by the Mongols. 

It seems certain that the Karens were already 
in Burma long before the Nestorian missionaries 
went to China. (Marco Polo's Roman CathoHc 
mission-work in western China did not begin 
until 1 27 1.) 

If it is true that the large towns in Shan-land 
were founded by the Shans four or five hundred 
years before the Christian era, the migration of 
the Karens must be placed at an even earlier 
period, — but that early date is doubtful. The 
non-Christian Karens are, and always have been 
spirit-worshippers. This so-called worship is lim- 
ited to propitiatory sacrifice. In this respect 
they are at one with all the races of Burma, not 
excepting the Burman Buddhists, though the lat- 
ter have abandoned bloody sacrifice. Before the 
adoption of Buddhism the Burmans, Shans and 
Talaings were spirit-worshippers pure and simple. 
Spirit-worshippers they still are, with the forms 
of Buddhism for a veneering. 

But the Karens have many religious traditions, 
so closely following the Bible accounts of the 
L.ofC. 



loo Among the Burmans 

creation, fall, flood, and other events as to furnish 
strong evidence that in bygone ages their ances- 
tors somewhere were in touch with the people of 
God. In spite of their spirit- worship they have re- 
tained a belief in a Supreme Being, and long looked 
forward to the time when God's Word, which they 
had lost, should be restored to them. God was 
believed to be a benevolent Being, but so far 
away that he had nothing to do with men. All 
spirits were believed to be evil, vengeful and near 
at hand. Therefore the Supreme Being was left 
out of their worship, and sacrifices offered to 
propitiate evil spirits who might work harm to 
them, by causing sickness, destruction of crops, 
and many other possible misfortunes. The 
Karens contend that in making offerings to the 
evil spirits they were not showing disloyalty to 
the Supreme Being. They illustrate their posi- 
tion by the following story : " Some children left 
in a place of supposed safety by their parents, 
were so frightened by the approach of a tiger 
that they threw down the cliff some pigs that had 
taken refuge with them. Their eyes, however, 
were not fixed on the tiger, but on the path by 
which they expected their father to come. Their 
hands fed the iigtr from fear, but their ears were 
eagerly listening for the twang of their father's 
bowstring, which should send the arrow quiver- 
ing into the tiger's heart." " And so, although 
we have to make sacrifices to demons, our hearts 



Chief Races of Burma loi 

are still true to God. We must throw sops to 
the demons who afflict us, but our hearts were 
looking for God." 

The history of the Karens in Burma has been 
a sad one. For centuries they had been griev- 
ously oppressed by the Burmans, who robbed 
them, carried away captives into slavery, and 
kept the Karens pent up in the most inaccessible 
parts of the mountain ranges. 

Under British rule the Karens are safe from 
serious molestation, but the old feehng still re- 
mains, and they hold aloof from the Burman as 
much as possible. The coming of the Christian 
missionary, restoring to them the knowledge of 
the true God so vaguely known through their 
traditions, was the great event to which the whole 
Karen nation had so long looked forward. Mul- 
titudes readily accepted Christianity. By its 
power they were emancipated from the domina- 
tion of evil spirits ; the swords and spears of tribal 
feuds were forged into pruning hooks ; and the 
whole Christian world rejoiced in the glorious 
spectacle of " A nation in a day." The census 
of 1901 gives a total of nearly 714,000 Karens, 
of all tribes. Many more are found in Siam. It 
has been asserted that " more languages are 
spoken in Assam than in any other country in 
the world." The same may be said of Burma. 
The recent census recognized fifty-seven indig- 
enous races or tribes, and as many more non- 



102 Among the Burmans 

indigenous. In the Toungoo district the mis- 
sionaries meet with several Karen dialects not 
mentioned in the census enumeration, but so 
distinct that one tribe does not understand the 
dialect of another. 

In some localities one meets with a new dialect 
in each village through which he passes in a 
day's journey. Ye shades of Shinar ! confusion 
of tongues, — twice confounded. It seems in- 
credible that so many famihes of one race, occu- 
pying the same territory, and with practically the 
same habits, customs, and superstitions, — should 
each perpetuate for centuries its own peculiar 
dialect and clannish exclusiveness. The mis- 
sionary or official, to do effective work among 
such a people, needs a small army of interpreters 
at his heels. 

THE KACHINS 

The Kachins inhabit the extreme northern part 
of Burma, extending as far south as the Bhamo 
and Namkham districts, and east into China. 
The Kachins are own cousins to the Nagas of 
the adjacent hill tract of Assam, who call them- 
selves " Singpho." " Kachin " is a name applied 
to these people by the Burmans. The Kachins 
of Burma call themselves " Chingpaw." This 
quite suits their kinsmen of Assam, who look 
down upon the Chingpaws as unworthy the 
grand name of Singpho. Both terms seem to 



Chief Races of Burma 103 

mean " men," — but men in distinction from the 
inferior races around them. The census of 1901 
gives a total of 65,510 Kachins in Burma alone. 
The early missionaries held that the Kachins and 
Karens were of the same origin ; that the Kachins 
were really Karens, from whom the southern 
Karens had become separated. This view 
seemed substantiated by the people themselves ; 
by some of their customs, — such as the manner 
in which their houses are constructed and par- 
titioned off; by a certain similarity of language 
— many common nouns said to be common to 
both languages, and by their spirit-worship. It 
is now generally admitted that the Kachins and 
Karens are not of the same origin. In bygone 
ages they may have been neighbours, if not 
more closely related, — in the borders of Tartary, 
— but at a very remote period. Certainly they 
did not migrate to Burma at the same time, nor 
by the same route. The Kachins have traditions 
that they migrated to Burma by way of the head- 
waters of the Irrawadi, — that their primal an- 
cestor lived at " Majoi Shingra Pum." In his 
" Handbook of the Kachin Language," H. F. 
Hertz says : " I have succeeded in obtaining the 
views of several old men, Tumsas and Faiwas, 
who might be described as Kachin priests. It 
would seem from these that • Majoi Shingra Pum ' 
is a high table-land with very few trees, frequently 
covered with snow, and very cold. 



104 Among the Burmans 

" Now, the name ' Majoi Shingra Pum/ liter- 
ally translated is a naturally flat mountain, or in 
other words, a plateau, and it does not need any 
stretch of the imagination to identify it with 
some part of eastern Tibet. Colonel Hannay, 
writing in 1847, describes tribes residing in the 
inaccessible regions bordering on Tartary as 
closely allied to the Kachins." This identifies 
the Kachins more closely with the Burmans and 
Chins than with the Karens. Moreover it is said 
that the Kachin language has more points in 
common with the Burmese than with the Karen. 
This is especially true of the Marus, — a tribe to 
the eastward, allied to the Kachins of Burma. 
It is not difficult to believe that all these races, in 
the very remote past, were neighbours in the 
borders of Tibet, and that while the Kachins and 
Burmese migrated south direct, the Karens mi- 
grating by way of western China, — the meeting 
of these races on Burmese soil reveals a few of 
the many things they once had in common. 

After the Burmans and Chins had migrated to 
Burma, the Shans, pressing westward by way of 
the Namkham valley, blocked the way of further 
migrations from the north. The Shans are 
known to have been supreme in northern Burma 
at the beginning of the Christian era. It is 
probable that they peopled the Upper Irrawadi 
several centuries earlier. In the thirteenth cen- 
tury the Shans overran Assam. Not until the 



Chief Races of Burma 105 

middle of the sixteenth century were they finally 
overcome by the Burmans, Nothing is known 
of the Kachins in Burma earlier than the six- 
teenth century. They seem to be comparatively 
recent arrivals, working their way into Burma 
after the Shans had been weakened by their 
struggles with the Burmans. The Singphos of 
Assam are said to have drifted into that country 
but a little more than a century ago. 

The Kachins have gradually forced the Pa- 
laungs and Shans before them, or isolating some 
of their villages from the main body. Their sud- 
den development of power is remarkable. PoHt- 
ical changes consequent on the annexation of 
Upper Burma checked Kachin aggressions. 
They are still spreading, but by fairly peaceable 
means. The Namkham district, supposedly 
Shan, is found to contain fully as many Kachins 
as Shans. Slowly but surely the Shans will be 
pressed southward. Before passing under con- 
trol of the British the various tribes of Kachins 
were ever at war among themselves. Captives 
were sold into slavery. Retaliatory raids were 
constantly expected. Feuds are still kept up, 
though they do not have the free hand to exe- 
cute vengeance enjoyed in former years. 

The Kachin, from habit, is watchful and sus- 
picious of strangers, — until his confidence is 
gained. Their villages are usually high up in 
the hills, as secluded and inaccessible as possible. 



lo6 Among the Burmans 

But the isolated situation of the village probably 
is due to the fear of nats, spirits, — quite as much 
as from fear of human enemies. One writer de- 
scribes an avenue leading to the village, with 
bamboo posts at regular intervals, with rattan 
ropes, a la clothes-line, from which various em- 
blems are suspended. Near the village " wooden 
knives, axes, spears, and swords are fastened to 
the tree-trunks. All this display is for the bene- 
fit of the nats. Like the Chinese, they do not 
give their demons credit for much acuteness. 
For one thing they believe that they can only 
move in a straight line. Therefore the nats 
avoid going about in the jungle, and keep to the 
open paths. A few judicious turns are made in 
the avenue, so as to turn the prowling devils 
off, if possible, but if he should happen to be 
cannoned off the tree stems in the right direction, 
there are the emblems to show him where the 
thing he is in search of may be found. If he is 
hungry there is the bullock's skull nailed to a 
tree, to indicate where food may be found ; if he 
is thirsty a joint of bamboo points out where a 
libation of rice spirit has been made." These 
spirit-worshippers are more easily gained than 
the Buddhist Burmans and Shans, but they have 
not the traditions of the Karens to prejudice 
them in favour of Christianity. Morally, they 
rank very low, — and yet their morality must be 
viewed in the light of Kachin, rather than English 



Chief Races of Burma 107 

custom. As with the non-Christian Karens, 
there are certain unwritten tribal laws governing 
family life. Should a Kachin presume to poach 
on his neighbour's preserves, there would be one 
less Kachin the next day. 

Courtship, when once the parties have come to 
an understanding, is conducted as a " probation- 
ary marriage." They may separate before the 
marriage ceremony takes place, if they weary of 
each other. But if they have already started a 
colony, marriage must follow, or the man " has 
to kill a bullock and pigs — to appease the nats 
of the damsel's house. In addition he has to pay 
a fine to the parents, of a spear, a gong, a da, 
and some pieces of cloth, and sometimes a bul- 
lock or buffalo." The old man is more exacting 
than the nats. Such separations do not effect 
the social standing of either party. It is claimed 
that separations or disloyalty after marriage " are 
practically unknown." 

It certainly would not be healthy to have it 
known. The Kachins have their own distinctive 
costume, varying according to tribe and locality. 
But Kachin men in touch with Chinese, Shans, or 
Burmans, usually adopt the costume of their neigh- 
bours. The women hold to their own costume. 

The religion of the Kachins, though gross 
spirit-worship, contains an element of truth not 
found in the Buddhism of the more civiHzed 
Burmans. Rev. Mr. Geis, missionary at Myitky- 



lo8 Among the BurmanS 

ina says — " Above and beyond all nats to whom 
Kachins offer sacrifices at one time or another, 
they recognize the existence of one great spirit 
called Karai Kasang. Altars in his honour are 
not found in Kachin villages or houses. No 
priest has been able to divine what offerings are 
to be made to it, but in time of great danger nats 
and their offerings are forgotten, and their cry 
goes out to Karai Kasang for help and succour." 

THE CHINS 

The Chins, who number about 180,000, are 
thought to be of the same origin as the Bur- 
mese, — from the neighbourhood of Tibet. It is 
evident that they became separated from kindred 
tribes at a very remote period. 

The Lushais of Assam, and Bengal, and the 
Kukis of Manipur have the same race-character- 
istics, and probably formed part of the original 
migration southward. At present the Chins, oc- 
cupying the hill country in the northwest corner 
of Burma, are slowly pressing northward, affect- 
ing Manipur. The Chins of the hill-country are 
quite isolated from other races. For this reason 
Buddhism has never reached them. Like their 
kinsmen, the Kachins, they are spirit-worship- 
pers, as were their other kinsmen, the Burmese, 
before the introduction of Buddhism. The Chins 
are divided into several tribes. The northern 
Chins call themselves " Yo," the Tashons call 



Chief Races of Burma 109 

themselves " KaKa " ; the middle tribes give their 
names as " Lai " ; the southern Chins call them- 
selves " Shu." Since the annexation of Upper 
Burma, securing immunity from oppression by 
the Burmans many Chins have drifted down from 
their own hill-country and formed agricultural 
villages in the plains. The Chin country is about 
250 miles long by from 100 to 150 miles wide. 
It is wholly mountainous, the highest peaks be- 
ing from 5,000 to 9,000 feet. Liklang peak, the 
highest of all, is nearly 10,000 feet. Like all 
spirit-worshippers, the Chins dread the power of 
demons, and offer to them the same left-handed 
sort of worship. But their worst enemy is of 
their own manufacture, made by fermenting rice, 
millet, or corn, and called " Zu." The great and 
wide-spread vice among the Chins is drunken- 
ness. Men, women, children, even babes in 
arms — all drink and glory in intoxication as an 
accomplishment of which to be proud. No act 
is considered a crime if committed when drunk. 
Many people I have seen in European and 
American cities must have been Chins. No 
function is complete without liquor. Hospitality 
is guaged by the number of cups of spirit dealt 
out, and appreciation of it — by the number of 
cups consumed. Again, how like many of their 
white cousins. " A man should drink, fight, and 
hunt, and the portion for women and slaves is 
work " — is both creed and practice. They have a 



no Among the Burmans 

peculiar custom, now dying out, of tattooing the 
faces of the women, until the whole face, from 
chin to hair — is dyed a purplish black. The 
reason for this custom is in dispute. Some have 
asserted that it was to make them unattractive 
to their enemies, especially the Burmans, who 
frequently raided their villages in the foot-hills. 
Others claim that the tattooing was in order to 
increase their attractiveness to the young men of 
their own kind. Fortunate indeed were they if 
this queer custom served the double purpose of 
repelling enemies and attracting friends. To un- 
accustomed eyes the tattooed face is hideous in 
the extreme. 

The first attempt by the British to control any 
part of the Chin Hills was made in 1859, but was 
neither continuous nor effective. In 1871 an 
expedition was sent into the hills to recover cap- 
tives, and punish offenders. The Chins remained 
quiet for ten years, then broke out again in 
repeated raids, from 1882 to 1888. The English 
were obliged to undertake a systematic subjuga- 
tion of the whole Chin country. This was 
effected in 1889-90. The expedition met with 
stubborn resistance, by guerilla methods. Many 
villages were burned by the English, as the only 
means of subduing the wily enemy. Many 
villages were burned by the Chins themselves. 
Near one village •' a dog had been killed and 
disemboweled, and tied by its four legs and thus 



Chief Races of Burma ill 

stretched on a rope suspended between two 
sticks across the path to the village, its entrails 
being likewise suspended between two other 
sticks, thus barring the road. Asking the Chins 
what this might mean, they said it was an offer- 
ing to the war nat to protect their village, and 
to ward off our bullets from injuring them." 
The work of subjugation had to be continued for 
some years, before the Chins were made to 
realize that the English government must be 
respected. The Hakas and others were dis- 
armed in 1895. The Chin Hills are administered 
by a political officer at Falam, with a European 
assistant at other important points, as Tiddim and 
Haka. The morals of these benighted Chins, 
still further degraded by their drink habit, are 
what might be expected. Marriages are gov- 
erned by the working-value of the bride, parents 
expecting compensation for the loss of her serv- 
ices, according to her capacity for work, and 
" expectation of hfe." This seems to have been 
the custom among all races of Burma. It is said 
that when a Chin wife is asked '• Where is your 
husband ? " she will give the required information 
in case he is living, — but if dead she will reply, 
" He is not here," and expects the subject to be 
dropped at that. This reminds me of a Shan 
girl's answer when I asked her the whereabouts 
of a former resident — " I don't know, — he is 
dead." The Chins of the foot-hills and plains 



1 1 2 Among the Burmans 

present an encouraging field for missionary work, 
but missionary work must be pushed with all 
possible vigour — to forestall the influences of Bud- 
dhism. To win them from spirit-worship is hard 
enough, to win them from Buddhism will be very 
much harder. 

The dialect of the southern Chins has been 
reduced to writing, and is found to be strikingly 
similar to the Burmese, perhaps half of the words 
being more or less allied to the Burmese. As 
the southern Chins have great difficulty in under- 
standing the speech of the wild tribes in the 
northern hills, it is quite probable that their own 
dialect has been corrupted by contact with the 
Burmans since their migration to Burma. The 
Chin dialect of the south is also said to contain 
many words of Shan origin. This must have 
come about in the same way, either by contact 
with Shans on the Upper Chindwin at a very 
early period, or when the Shans occupied Ar- 
racan about eighteen years, towards the end of 
the tenth century. This later contact seems 
much too short to have left a permanent mark on 
the southern Chin dialect. The total number of 
Animists — demon-worshippers — in Burma, Chin, 
Kachin, Karen, and other, is about four hundred 
thousand. But as we have seen, the Buddhist 
Burmans, Shans and Takings, are at core, 
demon-worshippers, all races having in common 
practically the same superstitions. 



V 

BUDDHISM AS IT IS 

MUCH has been written on Buddhism, 
besides the translation of the Buddhist's 
sacred books. Little, however, can be 
learned from books of Buddhism as one finds it 
expressed in the life of the people. 

Riding one day with a missionary who had a 
wide acquaintance with the Burmans and their 
language, I asked him certain questions as to 
their real belief. His reply was, " No man can 
tell, until he finds a way to get into the Burman 
mind." The first business of the missionary 
seemed to be then to make every effort to get 
into the Burman mind ; to study him ; study his 
religious habits ; ascertain if possible, his point of 
view ; learn to see things from his point of view ; 
to know what there is in him that must be eradi- 
cated and supplanted by the gospel of Jesus 
Christ. We see the country fairly alive; — no, 
dead with idols. We see the people kneeling 
before these idols, and, to every appearance pray- 
ing. Are they praying? How can they be 
praying, inasmuch as Buddhism knows no God, 
— does not claim to have a God ? Gautama him- 
"3 



114 Among the Burmans 

self whom all these images represent, never 
claimed to have any power to save others, or even 
to save himself. These worshippers know that 
he was only a man, that at the age of eighty 
years he died, that his death was due to an 
attack of indigestion (from eating too much fresh 
pork), as any other man might die. It is sup- 
posed that he was born near Benares, about six 
hundred years before Christ ; that his father was 
a chief of an Aryan tribe called the Sakyas. 
From the sacred books they learn that Gautama's 
early life was spent in dissolute pleasure and 
luxury common to oriental princes ; that after a 
time becoming dissatisfied with his own manner 
of life and the corrupt conditions around him, he 
yielded to another his princely prospects, aban- 
doned his wife and child and gave himself up to a 
hfe of meditation and study under religious 
teachers ; that faiUng in this to gain the longed- 
for peace of soul he for several years led a life of 
the most severe privation and affliction of the 
flesh, until by long continued meditation and 
self-concentration the light broke in upon him, 
and he became "the enlightened one," — a 
Buddha. Did he not by this enlightenment be- 
come something more than man? Not at all. 
He had learned nothing of God, not even that 
such a being existed. He entertained no thought 
that he himself had acquired any supernatural 
character or power. And so he died. Even the 



Buddhism As It Is 115 

common people of the jungle villages know all 
this, and yet they prostrate themselves before 
these images of brass, wood, or stone. Are they 
praying? Perchance their hopes are based on 
what Gautama became, after death. According 
to Buddhism, Gautama had now passed through 
all the necessary conditions and changes, and 
entered at once upon the final state, the highest 
goal of Buddhism, Nirvana, (" Neikban," in Bur- 
mese). 

Had he now become a God? Not at all. 
No Buddhist entertains such a thought. What 
then is Neikban ? " It means," they say, " the 
going out, like the flame of a candle." By a 
long-continued process of self-concentration 
Gautama is supposed to have become absolutely 
oblivious to the world around him, and ultimately 
to have become unconscious even of self. His 
death is believed to have been utter extinction 
of both physical and spiritual existence. Some 
deny that Neikban is equivalent to annihilation. 
The best that can be claimed for it is an impos- 
sible existence in which there is neither sensation 
nor conscious life. 

Fittingly they describe it as " a flame which 
has been blown out." 

According to Buddhist teachings and current 
belief Gautama has disappeared, body and soul. 
Brahmins may talk of being absorbed in the 
" One Supreme Soul," and Theosophists glibly 



Il6 Among the Burmans 

repeat the form of words, but Buddhists claim 
nothing of the sort. There is no Supreme Soul 
to absorb them, and no human souls to be 
absorbed. It is not soul, or life that is perpetu- 
ated, but desire merely. Neikban, they declare, 
is the cessation of everything, a condition of un- 
consciousness, lifeless ease, they do not like to 
say annihilation. Then what are these worship- 
pers doing here on their knees before images 
which represent no existing being? surely not 
praying, for they have " no hope, without God 
in the world " ; no being higher than themselves 
to whom prayer could be addressed ; no expecta- 
tion of blessing of any sort from any super- 
natural source; absolutely nothing in their 
religious conceptions or experience correspond- 
ing to the communion between the Christian and 
his God. 

There is no such thing as real prayer in the 
whole Buddhist system. What, then, are they 
doing ? Here comes in the system of " merit " 
on which Buddhism is built. An instinctive 
sense of guilt and impending penalty is universal. 
Having no Saviour — man must save himself. 

From what ? Not from sin, as violation of 
the laws of a Holy Being, but from their train 
of evil consequences to himself. 

The chief tenets of Buddhism are : (i) Misery 
is the inevitable consequence of existence. (2) 
Misery has its source in desire. (3) Misery can 




Buddhism As It Is 117 

be escaped only by the extinction of desire. 

(4) Desire can be extinguished only by becom- 
ing wholly unconscious of the world and of self. 

(5) He who attains to such unconsciousness at- 
tains to Neikban. (6) Evil actions constitute 
demerit. Good actions constitute merit. 

In this deeply grounded belief as to merit and 
demerit lies the secret of much that we see in 
the life of the people. Now we know what these 
people are doing, — they are seeking to accumu- 
late merit by repeating over and over again a 
certain formula, or portions of their " Law " 
with their faces towards the, — to them, — sacred 
pagoda or idol. 

But no Buddhist expects to attain to Neikban 
at the end of this existence. He realizes that it 
is utterly hopeless for him to think of fulfilling 
the conditions. But he cherishes the groundless 
hope that in some future existence under more 
favourable conditions he may be able to accumu- 
late sufficient merit, though he cannot now. 
This belief presupposes the doctrine of trans- 
migration, or metempsychosis. 

The Buddhist believes that he has passed 
through countless existences in the past, — 
whether as man, animal, or insect, or all many 
times over, he knows not ; finally, birth into this 
world as man. He dies only to be reborn into 
this or another world, — whether as man, animal, 
or insect he knows not ; then death again, and 



ll8 Among the Burmans 

so through countless ages. Even Gautama him- 
self is said to have passed through five hundred 
and fifty different phases of existence, including 
long ages in hell, before he finally entered this 
world as man, and became a Buddha. 

Although Buddhism has no God, and no 
heaven, it has a very vivid conception of hell, 
yes, — eight of them, surrounded by over forty 
thousand lesser hells, — their terrors limited only 
by the limitations of the imagination. But no 
man can escape — the doctrine of Karma settles 
that. A man's own words and deeds pursue him 
relentlessly, and there is no city of refuge to 
which he may flee. " Not in the heavens, not 
in the midst of the sea, not if thou hidest thy- 
self in the clefts of the mountains, will thou find 
a place where thou mayest escape the force of thy 
own evil actions." So say their scriptures, and 
so every Buddhist believes. Hell is the inevita- 
ble penalty of many deeds or accidents, such as 
the killing of the smallest insect under foot. 
Between the Buddhist and his hopeless hope of 
Neikban yawns this awful gulf of existences and 
sufferings. 

" Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also 
reap," gives the gist of Buddhism. He is now 
reaping from past existences ; he will reap in the 
next from his deeds in this. In the past each 
succeeding existence depended upon the last 
previous existence. In like manner, what the 



Buddhism As It Is 119 

next existence shall be depends wholly upon the 
deeds of this life. 

So the countless series of transmigrations may 
be, theoretically, in the ascending or descending 
scale. But when the awful penalties assigned to 
innumerable and unavoidable violations of the 
Buddhist law are taken into consideration all 
hope of future existences in the ascending scale 
vanishes. The poor fisherman, beginning at the 
very bottom of the lowest of the four chief hells 
must spend countless ages in each, before he can 
hope to be reborn as man. 

The man who unwittingly puts his foot on the 
smallest insect and crushes out its life must atone 
for the deed by spending a long period in tor- 
ment. Taking the life of any living thing, even 
to the killing of poisonous snakes, is held to be 
the worst of all sins. The priests, to avoid the 
possibility of destroying insect life, use a brass 
strainer finely perforated, to cleanse their drink- 
ing water, in blissful ignorance of the microbe 
theory. A native preacher once asked me to 
get him a microscope so that he might prove to 
the priests that notwithstanding their precautions 
they were drinking to themselves perdition. 

His motive may have been in part, to con- 
vince them as to the futility of their hope, and 
in part to get even with them for their harsh 
criticisms of " animal-killing Christians." 

A story told by one of our native preachers 



120 Among the Burmans 

vividly illustrates this dread of future punishment. 
" I had been preaching for about two hours to a 
large company in a jungle-village. During all 
this time an old woman was sitting on a log near 
by, counting off her beads, and devoutly mur- 
muring to herself the customary iormula., * Ak- 
nas-sa, Dok-ka,Ah-nat-ta ; Pay a, Taya, Thinga, 
— Radana Thbn-ba ' — ' Transitoriness, Misery, Il- 
lusions ; Lord, Law, Priest, — the three Jewels.' 
When I had finished I approached her saying : 
' Why do you worship so devoutly ? ' * To es- 
cape the penalty of hell,' she sadly replied. * So 
you fear the future, — what is your notion of 
hell ? ' ' Oh, it is a terrible place. They say it 
is shaped like a great cauldron, and full of burn- 
ing oil in which people suffer endlessly and are 
not consumed. And when they try to escape, the 
evil beings of the place thrust them back with 
sharp forks and spears. Oh, it is a terrible 
place ! ' she repeated, fairly trembling as she 
described its horrors. • Yes,' I said. * You 
seem to understand it very well. Now what are 
you doing to escape such an awful fate?' ' Oh, 
many, many years I have worshipped before the 
pagodas and idols ; every day I count my beads 
over and over, repeating the formula, as Gautama 
directed. Do you think that after all I have 
done I must still go to hell ? ' ' Yes,' I said. 
' If that is all you have done, you surely must.' 
* Oh, then, tell me,' she said in great distress, 



Buddhism As It Is 121 

* what can I do to escape, for I greatly fear the 
terrors of that place.' Then sitting there on 
the log, with this poor old woman on the ground 
before me, I told the blessed gospel story over 
again, as Jesus Christ did with the woman of 
Samaria. And then I said : ' You must^ repent 
of your sins, and confess them to the eternal 
God. You must believe and trust the Lord 
Jesus Christ, who died to save you. If you do 
this He will forgive your sins, and save you.' 
Her wrinkled face brightened with hope as she 
exclaimed, ' If I do as you have said, and be- 
lieve on Jesus Christ, will He save me?' * Yes, 
He surely will, for He has said, " Him that com- 
eth unto me I will not cast out." ' On her face 
was an almost heavenly light — as she replied : 
' Then / do believe, and I want to go with you 
that you may tell me about Him until I die.' 
Her friends ridiculed her saying, ' Oho ! 
Grandma wants to go off with the preacher. 
She is becoming foolish in her old age.' ' Oh, 
no,' she said. ' But the preacher has told me 
how I may escape the penalty of hell, and / am 
so glad.' " 

It has often been asserted that Buddhism has a 
moral code rivaling, if not superior to that of 
Christianity. We had not been at our mission 
station a week before we heard the remark, 
" Buddhism is a beautiful rehgion, — why do the 
missionaries try to disturb them in their belief?" 



122 Among the Burmans 

That there are noble precepts and command- 
ments all must admit. But he who expects to 
see their " beauty " reflected in the lives of the 
people will be doomed to disappointment. Take 
the commandment already noticed — " Thou shalt 
not take the life of any living thing." 

This commandment admits of no exceptions 
whatever, under any possible circumstances, not 
even in self-defense ; and puts the taking of a 
human life and that of the smallest insect in the 
same category. But the Burmans, among whom 
Buddhism is found in its purest form, have been 
a more or less warlike race from their earliest 
history, often practicing the greatest cruelties. 
How do they reconcile this with the teachings 
of their law? We will suppose that one man 
has taken the life of another. According to his 
own belief and the law of the land, he is a mur- 
derer. To free himself from just and inevitable 
penalty he resorts to his doctrine of " merit," 
by which he may absolve himself from the de- 
merit of his evil act. The building of a small 
pagoda of sun-dried brick, or the forming of an 
idol from a portion of his fire-wood log will bal- 
ance the scales, square the account, restore him 
to his former prospects, and to future prospects 
as bright as though he had kept the whole law. 
By this convenient belief he may take his abso- 
lution into his own hands, and work it out to 
suit himself. But if he be a poor man, unable 



Buddhism As It Is 123 

to perform an adequate work of merit, he must 
suffer to the full the consequences of his act. 

A missionary found a man digging for huge 
beetles. When one was found it was impaled 
on a sharp stick along with the others, all to go 
into the curry for the morning meal. Then the 
following conversation took place : " Are you 
not afraid of punishment in hell for killing these 
creatures ? " "I shall go there if I do not kill 
them." " Then you do this because there is no 
hope for you, whether you take animal life or 
not ? " " It is all the same." Sins beyond his 
power to counterbalance by merit had already 
been committed, until hope had given way to 
despair. 

One may shoot pigeons in the vicinity of a 
Buddhist monastery, and then divide with the 
priest, who anticipates a savoury meal without any 
compunctions of conscience on^ccount of " aiding 
and abetting." 

Young Burmans are eager to follow the man 
with the gun, showing him the likeliest place to 
find game, and when the animal is wounded, will 
rush in and dispatch it with their dahs. 

The fisheries of Burma furnish a livelihood to 
hundreds of Burmans. Large sums are paid to 
government annually for the privilege of con- 
trolling certain specified sections of rivers or 
streams. The fisherman makes the taking of 
animal-life his business and daily occupation. 



124 Among the Burmans 

Theoretically he is ranked among the very- 
lowest classes. In real life we find him enjoying 
the same social position that others of equal 
wealth enjoy. But I do not hesitate to say that 
this general belief that fearful penalties must be 
endured in future existences for taking animal- 
Hfe in this, has a deeper hold on the Buddhist 
than any other commandment. 

Take the commandment : " Thou shalt speak 
no false word," — strikingly like the Christian's 
commandment, " Thou shalt not bear false wit- 
ness," " Lie not one to another." One would 
naturally expect to find among the devotees of a 
system containing such a commandment some 
value placed upon one's word of honour. But if 
truthfulness has ever been discovered among non- 
Christian Burmans, the discovery has never been 
reported. But we have not far to search to find 
the secret of this general lack of any regard for 
truthfulness. 

The same " Sacred Book " that sets forth the 
commandment, " Thou thalt speak no false word," 
gives this definition of falsehood : A statement 
constitutes a lie when discovered by the person 
to whom it is told, to be untrue ! See what lat- 
itude such a definition gives. Deceit is at a 
premium. Children grow up with no higher 
standard of honour than a belief that the sin of 
falsehood and fraud lies entirely in its discovery. 
Is it any wonder that these people have become 



Buddhism As It Is 125 

expert in the art. It is the common practice 
among themselves, — in business, in family life, 
in match-making, and most of all, in their deal- 
ings with foreigners. No European (after the 
first year) places the slightest reUance upon the 
most emphatic promise of a heathen Burman. 
In fact, the more emphatic the promise, the 
greater seems to be the temptation to do just the 
other thing. It may have been this inbred trait 
that led the schoolboy to translate " Judge not, 
that ye be not judged," by " Do no justice, lest 
justice be done to you." 

When it is remembered that deceit and fraud 
are national vices, bred in the bone for centuries, 
it is not to be marvelled at that native Christians, 
only a step from heathenism, are sometimes 
found deficient in their sense of honour. Here 
is an illustration in point. A young Burman 
wanted to become a Christian. He became a 
regular attendant at chapel services, and finally 
asked for baptism. This greatly enraged his 
heathen wife, who proceeded to make his life 
most miserable. She tore around, screamed, 
pulled her own hair, and made things interesting 
generally. She got possession of his box con- 
taining his best clothing and other valuables, and 
would neither give it back to him nor live any 
longer with him unless he would promise to 
break with the Christians, and cease attending 
their worship. The young man appealed to his 



126 Among the Burmans 

uncle. The uncle's advice was : " You go and 
tell your wife that you will have nothing more to 
do with the Christians. You cannot recover your 
property in any other way. When you have re- 
gained possession of your box, come back to us, 
and then we will baptize you." So far as he 
then knew, the end justified the means. Take 
the commandment : " Thou shalt commit no im- 
moral act," — an ideal precept in itself, but stand- 
ing for little more than a joke when inscribed on 
the banner of any non-Christian people. The 
Burman is perhaps superior, morally, to some 
other races of this country, yet his moral sense 
is very low. Among middle-aged people mar- 
riage seems to be an actual institution, and fam- 
ily life well guarded. Separations are compara- 
tively few. Conditions of life in the tropics are 
such that the young are subject to temptations 
sad to contemplate. Heathen parents freely dis- 
cuss subjects in the presence of their children 
that never would be mentioned before them in a 
Christian home. Missionaries' children often 
startle their parents by repeating what never 
should have come to their ears. It seems a 
wonder that moral character exists at all among 
the young. That many do set a high value upon 
virtue no unprejudiced observer of native life can 
doubt. Jealousy plays a large part in early separa- 
tions, and with sufficient cause. Both may find 
other partners of their joys on the day following. 



Buddhism As It Is 127 

Among all races there are certain laws and 
social customs that in large measure restrain evil 
practices. Even among the heathen a certain 
value is placed upon one's social standing in 
the community, — which has greater weight 
than the commandment against immorality, in 
his " law." An educated Burman once said 
to me — " Burmans do not take much account 
of sin, but they do not hke to lose their respect- 
ability." 

Other commandments, such as those directed 
against " love of the world," and " love of money," 
seem to be honoured more in the breach than in 
the observance. The Burmans are notoriously 
the proudest, gayest people on the face of the 
earth. They enjoy a good time and will have it, 
whatever the occasion. There is little of real 
religious significance in their so-called religious 
gatherings. A display of fine clothes, a few 
presents for the priests ; some of the more de- 
vout, especially the elderly women, worshipping 
before the shrine. But a large majority will be 
found sitting in the " zayats " talking familiarly 
among themselves, painting the ground below 
red with kun-]mcQ by spitting through cracks in 
the floor, and never going near the pagodas or 
idols at all. The Buddhists are proud of their 
" law," and lay great stress upon it for purposes 
of argument. But as we have seen, either from 
their low moral sense, or their dependence on 



128 Among the Burmans 

works of merit, the " law " has httle effect on the 
lives of the people. 

We visited that most famous worship-place of 
the Buddhists, the Shwe Dagon pagoda, and for 
the first time saw heathenism as it is. We had 
read " The Light of Asia " ; and heard theoso- 
phists talk glibly of " Mahatmas " whose wisdom 
is more ancient and profound than anything in 
the religious literature of the West. 

But here we saw the yellow-robed, " Light of 
Asia " (more fittingly called the " Blight of 
Asia " ) and the graven image, both representing 
their annihilated Buddha, seemingly equal in in- 
telligence, and sharing together the superstitious 
worship of the common people. Up the long as- 
cent to the pagoda is a covered way, its brick or 
flagged steps hollowed out by the tramp, tramp 
of thousands on thousands of barefooted worship- 
pers, extending over many, many years. 

Guarding the approach are two horrible griffins, 
the first suggestion of the superstitious mind of 
these benighted people. On either side of the 
stairway are sellers of artificial flowers, paper 
streamers, candles, and other things used as of- 
ferings, each worshipper stopping to invest in 
whatever he thinks will gain for him the greatest 
amount of merit at the least possible cost. This 
great pagoda itself 1,350 feet in circumference, 
tapering in graceful curves to a height of 328 
feet, is entirely covered with gold leaf. It is said 



Buddhism As It Is 129 

that the pagoda has been regilded several times, 
at fabulous cost. But this does not seem so 
wonderful when one recalls that the Parliament 
of Religions witnessed the regilding of the en- 
tire Buddhist system. 

This lofty spire is surmounted by a htee or 
umbrella ornamented with gems and gold said to 
be valued at about ;^200,ooo. The htee has 
been renewed several times, by different kings, 
each striving to outdo all others. The present 
htee was placed there in 1 871, by Mindon Min. 
The space around the base of the pagoda, pro- 
tected by a parapet, and flagged with stone or 
cement, accommodates a large throng of wor- 
shippers. Hither pilgrimages are made every 
year from all parts of Burma. Besides the four 
large idols built into the base of the pagoda far 
out of sight, as in all pagodas, there are many 
auxiliary shrines deeply recessed into the base, 
dimly lighted by tiny candles, and containing 
gilded or alabaster images of Gautama. Still 
other shrines have been erected at the outer cir- 
cumference of the floor space. Huge bells are 
suspended between posts, near the floor. 

The largest, cast in 1842, is fourteen feet high, 
seven and a half in diameter, with sides fifteen 
inches in thickness, weighs 94,682 pounds. It is 
said that when this bell was cast, quantities of 
gold, silver and copper were thrown in as offer- 
ings. After the second Burmese war, the Eng- 



130 Among the Burmans 

lish undertook to carry this bell away as a curio, 
but by some accident it fell into the river. The 
Burmans afterwards recovered it and put it again 
in its place, — a marvellous feat, considering their 
rude appliances. 

Intensely interesting is all this when seen for 
the first time ; but inexpressibly saddening when 
one stops to reflect what it all stands for. One 
is forcibly reminded of its terrible significance by 
groups of worshippers kneeling before these 
shrines, mumbling hurriedly through their so- 
called prayers, prostrating themselves repeatedly 
to the ground. After going through his prayers 
and prostrations the worshipper goes to the bell 
and strikes it with the end of a heavy piece of 
wood, kept there for the purpose. The attention 
of gods and men must be called to the fact that 
he has performed a certain amount of merit-earn- 
ing worship. " Thou shalt have no other gods 
before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any 
graven image nor any likeness of anything that 
is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath ; 
thou shalt not bow down to them nor serve 
them." What new meaning that commandment 
had for us, as we saw it violated before our eyes ! 
Idolatry seemed even darker than it had been 
painted. 

Pagodas may be seen all over Burma, single or 
in groups ; of all sizes from the less pretentious 
structure in the jungle- village, to the great Shwe 



Buddhism As It Is 131 

Dagon in Rangoon, with its umbrella-top 328 
feet in the air. These pagodas, modelled after 
the dagobas of Ceylon, are all of the same gen- 
eral shape, resembling the bottom half of a child's 
top, inverted. They occupy the most conspicu- 
ous places, on nearly every hilltop, on points jut- 
ting out into the rivers, and near the chief high- 
ways. The more important were built over some 
supposed relic of Gautama, such as a tooth or a 
hair. These pagodas are considered much more 
sacred than those that were built for merit 
only. 

The Shwe Dagon pagoda, most famous of all 
Buddhist shrines, is said to have been built over 
reHcs of four Buddhas, including eight hairs of 
Guatama. The Shwe Hmaw Daw pagoda at 
Pegu, erected by the Takings, claims a tooth of 
Gautama. The Shwe San Daw pagoda at Toun- 
goo has a different history. A Burman prince, 
Tabin Shwe' Htee, when born had one long red 
hair standing out from the top of his head. This 
was a sure indication of an embryonic Buddha. 
In his honour the great pagoda was erected, and 
called the " Golden Hair Pagoda." The Maha 
Myat Moonee pagoda at Mandalay, commonly 
known as the " Arracan Pagoda " is second only 
to the Shwe Dagon, in the esteem of Upper Bur- 
mans. In A. D., 146, the King of Arracan cast a 
great brass image of Gautama, which became fa- 
mous for its supposed miraculous powers. In 



132 Among the Burmans 

A. D., 1784, the king of Burma, having conquered 
other parts of the country, and secured about 
everything he wanted, turned longing eyes to- 
wards Arracan and the far-famed image. This 
great image, twelve feet high, though cast in a 
sitting posture, — was brought over the mountains 
and deposited at the Arracan pagoda in a large 
building specially prepared for it, north of Ama- 
rapura. Not a smile disturbs the settled calm 
on its face as the visitor reads the inscription set- 
ting forth that the image was drawn here by the 
" charm of the king's piety." But from other 
sources we learn that his piety found expression 
in a war of conquest, of which this image was 
one of the coveted fruits. Its importation over 
the mountains was a wonderful feat. Little 
wonder that Burmans think it was accomplished 
by supernatural help. 

A few miles north of Mandalay is the great 
Mingon pagoda, begun in 1790, and never 
finished. It is four hundred feet square at the 
base, and was to have been carried up to a 
height of five hundred feet, but work was sus- 
pended when it had reached about one third of its 
intended height, the country already having be- 
come seriously impoverished. 

In 1839 an earthquake split it from top to 
bottom. No one mourned the seeming disaster, 
for no king could gain the " royal merit " by 
completing the work of another. As it is, this 



Buddhism As It Is 133 

Mingon pagoda is said to be the largest pile of 
brick and mortar in the world. 

The largest bell in Burma, weighing between 
eighty and ninety tons, and second in size to the 
great bell at Moscow, cast to match the immense 
pagoda, is still to be seen near the ruins. This 
bell is eighteen feet high, seventeen in diameter, 
and a foot and a half in thickness. It now rests 
on the ground, having long ago proved too heavy 
for its supports. 

Pagodas are not temples. There is no open 
interior for a worship place. The worshipping is 
done in the open space around the pagoda, or in 
the idol-houses, the real temples. 

The first pagoda was probably built at the 
close of the fourth century or even later ; though 
Buddhists refer it to a much earlier date. The 
sacred books of Buddhism were brought to 
Burma about 397 a. d,, according to the best 
authorities. 

Before the introduction of Buddhism the 
Burmans and Takings, like all other races around 
them, were spirit-worshippers. They knew no 
gods but nats, spirits with supernatural powers. 
The reigning king became a convert to the new 
religion, built a pagoda, and issued a royal de- 
cree that all his subjects should worship it, death 
being the penalty of refusal. The king's edict 
failing to accomplish its purpose, he cunningly 
commanded that a nat-sin or spirit-house be 



134 Among the Burmans 

built near the pagoda. The transition from the 
worship of invisible nats to the worship of the 
more tangible pagoda was natural and inevita- 
ble. 

" It was by a strange irony of fate," says Sir 
Monier Williams, " that the man who denied any 
God or any being higher than himself, and told 
his followers to look to themselves for salvation, 
should have been not only deified and wor- 
shipped, but represented by more images than any 
other being ever idolized in any part of the 
world." 

Dharmapala, who represented Buddhism at the 
Parliament of Religions, said : " A system in 
which our whole being, past, and present, and to 
come, depends on ourselves, theoretically, leaves 
little room for the interference or even existence 
of a personal God." It really leaves no room at all, 
and its founder plainly said so. Buddhism is a 
worship of ancestors, of which Gautama holds a 
monopoly. 

As we have seen, at the advent of Buddhism 
the worship of evil spirits, by propitiatory sacri- 
fice, prevailed throughout Burma, among all 
races. It is not to be supposed that the adop- 
tion of Buddhism dispelled these superstitions. 
Spirit-worship is still the religion, if it can be 
called a religion, — of the non-Christian Karens, 
Chins, Kachins, and other non-Buddhist races. 
When Buddhism was adopted by the Talaings, 



Buddhism As It Is 135 

Burmans, and Shans, bloody sacrifice involving 
the taking of animal-life, had to be aban- 
doned. But to this day propitiatory offerings of 
rice, fruit, or flowers, are made to the spirits as 
before. " Animism supplies the solid con- 
stituents," says a recent writer, " that hold the 
faith together, Buddhism the superficial polish. 
The Burman has added to his Animism just so 
much of Buddhism as suits him, and with infan- 
tile inconsequence draws solace from each in 
turn." Spirit-worship is his every-day religion, 
Buddhism for special occasions. Two illustra- 
tions will suffice to show how strong a hold 
superstition still has upon the people. A harm- 
less lunatic had wandered through the streets for 
years. No one seemed to know the cause, but 
his reason, what little he ever possessed, had 
been dethroned, leaving him to wander about 
homeless and friendless. For his living he had 
to compete with the pariah dogs in the common 
effort to exist on what the people chanced to cast 
into the street after finishing their meals. One 
of the priests, thinking to gain notoriety as well 
as more substantial favours, declared that this 
man was a case of demoniacal possession. This 
was nothing new, for it is the common belief that 
nats are responsible for disordered minds, sick- 
ness, and other calamities. But the priest 
further suggested that the nat that had taken up 
his abode in this man be exorcised by drowning 



136 Among the Burmans 

him out. A company of Burmans assembled, 
secured the demoniac, and headed by the priest 
and tom-toms, proceeded to the river. The 
poor demoniac, filthy, naked and with matted 
hair, — a picture of abject helplessness, — was led 
by a rope to, — he knew not what. Several of 
the men took the poor creature in a boat to the 
middle of the river, and threw him overboard. 
When he tried to regain the boat they thrust 
him off with their bamboo poles. When he be- 
came exhausted and water-logged they would res- 
cue him, only to throw him in again after a brief 
breathing spell. This Avas repeated for several 
days in the presence of the would-be wonder- 
worker, to the deafening sound of the tom-toms. 
It is needless to add that he continued to roam 
the streets, in the same condition as before. At 
one time when out on a tour among jungle- 
villages a native Christian called my attention to 
a large banyan-tree by the roadside. Up on one 
of the higher branches was a large gnarl, which, 
by a long stretch of the imagination slightly re- 
sembled a human face. The tree was standing 
there before the oldest inhabitant was born. 

The gnarl Avas a peculiar growth of many 
years. One day a passer-by noticed a fancied 
resemblance to a human face, and spread the 
story that the tree was haunted, — that it was the 
abode of a nat. Of course the superstitious and 
gullible people believed it. A say at was quickly 



Buddhism As It Is 137 

built under the tree ; many brought offerings of 
rice, fruit, and flowers, and all who passed by 
that tree bowed down to worship that big knot 
on the limb. The dread of evil spirits is the 
bane of existence. There is constant fear lest 
some real or fancied lack of respect paid to the 
nats will bring some kind of disaster. 

Nagas are the most feared of all. There are 
several different kinds of nagas. Some Hve 
under water, others on land. They are dragon- 
like reptiles, " fearsome " and terribly dreaded by 
old and young. When a man is drowning it is 
because a naga is drawing him down. Does a 
man sink and not reappear, a naga has got him 
sure. On-lookers fear to go to the rescue. But 
there is one great naga, most dreaded of all, so 
long that it encircles the earth, which to the 
native mind, is as flat as a pancake. This mon- 
ster is constantly moving forward, so that the 
position of its head is ever changing. But 
fortunately the astrologers have discovered that 
its progress in its orbit is regular, and the loca- 
tion of its head may be known, according to 
season of the year, a full year being required for 
the circuit. Every Burman knows in what 
direction is the awful naga's head at a given 
season. No love nor money will tempt them 
to travel through the jungle in that direction, in 
unfamiliar territory. 

Naga-worship once prevailed in northern 



138 Among the Burmans 

India. Whether imported into Burma, or also 
existing in Burma before the introduction of 
Indian influences in the north, is not known. 
But up to the eleventh century naga-worship was 
the most conspicuous feature in the observances 
of both spirit-worshippers and nominal Bud- 
dhists. Even now it is not uncommon to hear a 
Burman, suffering from some calamity or disease, 
lamenting that he has in some way brought dis- 
aster to himself by unwillingly offending the 
great naga. Once it was my good fortune to 
profit by their superstitious notions. Having 
rented a native house as temporary quarters, I 
learned soon after moving in, that it had the 
reputation of being haunted. Spirits of certain 
" dacoits " who came to a sudden death in a jail 
that formerly stood near by, were supposed to fre- 
quent the place. From that time on I could 
sleep in perfect security against all thought of 
prowling thieves. No fear that any native 
would come near that house after dark. Bud- 
dhism a " Beautiful Religion " ? That it has 
many noble precepts no one will deny. The 
same is true of every system of philosophy ever 
formulated. But at its best it furnishes no in- 
centive to righteous living, beyond one's own 
self-interest. It offers no help or hope whatever, 
beyond one's own unaided efforts. If man can- 
not save himself he must stay where he is, or be 
sinking lower, ever lower. 



Buddhism As It Is 139 

Buddhism, as seen in the Hfe of the people, is 
rotten to the core. We have seen how its adherents 
craftily seek to evade the precepts and command- 
ments of their " law," so far as possible ; and 
then to balance their evil doings by works 
of merit. The priests prey upon the supersti- 
tions of their people, and grow fat. If offerings 
to the monastery do not come in so freely as 
desired the wily priest conveniently has a re- 
markable dream, in which a nat reveals to him 
that terrible calamities will befall the people if 
they do not increase their zeal. 

This invariably has the desired effect. There 
is a general hustling throughout the jurisdiction 
of the monastery; and soon the greedy priests 
are fairly swamped with presents of plantains, 
rice, cocoanuts, etc. 

At Kyankse there is a very steep hill, with 
several pagodas at the top. A missionary re- 
lates that he there " met an aged man who, to 
gain merit, climbs to the summit every day 
carrying two pots of water (about seventy 
pounds) for the use of the people who may come 
to worship there. He had a writing from the 
Buddhist priest, assuring him that a Buddha was 
about to appear, and if he continued in this 
meritorious work for seven years he would see 
the Buddha, and be rewarded." 

The priest, in order to secure a regular supply 
of water, had deliberately duped this simple old 



140 Among the BurmanS 

man. And yet, as a work of merit, his daily- 
task had a certain value, according to Buddhist 
teaching. 

The utter powerlessness of Buddhism to meet 
the needs of the human heart forced itself upon 
me when first I witnessed one of their funerals. 

A rich Burman jeweller, living near our chapel, 
died of old age. One of his sons occupied a 
high official position. Of course the funeral 
must be a grand affair. We reached the place 
just as the procession was forming. First, there 
were four men bearing a bamboo frame on which 
was an artificial tree, four feet high, its branches 
wound with bright coloured paper. From the 
ends of the branches silver coins wrapped in 
paper, were suspended. This money was to buy 
offerings for the pagodas. Fifty-six men in 
squads of four, carried bamboo frames on which 
were piled gifts for the priests, consisting of mats, 
rugs, chinaware, lacquered-ware, lamps, etc. 
There were fourteen of these frames, being one 
each for fourteen priests. Four coolies, each 
carrying on his shoulder a bamboo pole from 
which were suspended jackets and skirts to be 
given to the poor. A double line of men with 
slender strips of bamboo covered with showy 
paper, held upright like so many spears. Then 
came the procession proper, headed by one of 
the rich relations carrying a lacquer vessel filled 
with copper coin. Four coolies carrying two 



Buddhism As It Is 141 

Burmese drums, suspended from bamboo poles. 
Two little boys fantastically dressed, danced be- 
fore the drums, turning around in a solemn, but 
graceful manner, and at each turn striking the 
drums with their fists. 

Then the mourners and friends, two daughters 
being dressed in white, with handkerchiefs tied 
round their heads as hair-bands. The coffin, 
covered with gold leaf, tinsel, and mirror glass, 
was elevated on a framework, about ten feet 
above the four-wheeled cart on which the frame- 
work rested. Above the coffin were several roof- 
like projections, one above another forming a 
pyramid, surmounted by a spire twenty feet high. 
Framework and spire were covered with showy 
paper and tinsel in artistic designs, and adorned 
with flags. The cart was drawn and pushed along 
by as many men as could get around it, long 
streamers of white cloth or ropes extending for- 
ward to the friends in front. Next to the bier was 
an oxcart with the Burman band, or tom-toms. 
One man was blowing on an instrument resem- 
bling a large-mouthed flageolet, from which 
issued a tuneless succession of weird sounds, — 
music to their ears, no doubt, — but most melan- 
choly to ours. Another was sitting inside of a 
low circular frame with small drums arranged in 
a semicircle, each producing a different sound. 
Behind the cart was a man with the cymbals, 
which he manipulated with marvellous skill, 



142 Among the Burmans 

though the vibratory sounds and clangour were 
excruciating in the extreme to sensitive nerves. 
On another cart, under a canopy of red and white 
cloth was another coffin more elaborately deco- 
rated, but empty, merely for pomp and show, or 
to fool the evil spirits. If in the extra coffin the 
consequences of a man's evil deeds, together with 
desire, which constitutes the germ of the next 
existence, could also be buried, it would be the 
ne plus ultra of hope to the Buddhist. 

Then followed several " gharries " with well- 
to-do acquaintances of the family. As the pro- 
cession moved slowly along the man with the 
pot of copper coin now and then threw a handful 
forward into the crowd of poor children, and oh 
what a scramble ! The priests had already gath- 
ered at the " zayat "in the cemetery to receive 
the expected offerings. Had they been present 
at the bedside to minister some hope to the 
dying man who was about to pass out into the 
awful dark ? Not at all, for the priest is sup- 
posed to be passing through the process of crush- 
ing out all natural feeling. He must not show 
that he is influenced in the least by death-bed 
scenes. Did they minister consolation to the 
sorrowing ones ? Not at all, for the priest is not 
supposed to feel the least sympathy with sorrow 
and distress. To " Rejoice with them that re- 
joice, and weep with them that weep " is not in 
all his thoughts. He came not to minister, but 



Buddhism As It Is 143 

to be ministered unto, — a complete reversal of 
the Christian principle. So at the funeral he 
offers no consolation, but expects to be himself 
consoled, very substantially. At the cemetery 
he sits in the zayat on his elevated platform, 
chewing and spitting kun — the picture of indo- 
lence and indifference. After the burial the 
afflicted ones, sorrowing without hope, with 
hearts bleeding as even heathen hearts can bleed, 
come and prostrate themselves before the priests, 
worshipping them in their very despair. But the 
priests seem neither to see nor to hear., Their 
minds from which " love of the world " has been 
well-nigh extinguished ( ! ) are intent upon the 
rich presents with which their monastery is being 
filled. 

Doubtless there are priests, especially the aged, 
who are sincerely striving to keep the " law " in 
spirit as well as in letter. But the very spirit of 
the law is selfishness. 

The Buddhist sacred books were a gradual but 
abnormal growth. They contain comparatively 
little of the actual teachings of Gautama, but a vast 
deal that Gautama would not have sanctioned. 
Marvellous stories have grown up around the 
memory of Gautama, whom the people of his time 
regarded as a " religious hero, rather than a god." 
The most absurdly extravagant statements as to 
time, dimensions, space, and numbers, are found 
in these stories. Imagination has run riot in 



144 Among the Burmans 

fabricating accounts of impossible miracles per- 
formed by Gautama. 

Modern geography, if seriously taken into ac- 
count by Buddhists, would stampede the whole 
Buddhist system. And yet these millions, given 
over to " believe a lie," accept it all without a 
question. 

The Buddhist scriptures are divided into three 
main divisions. 

The first is addressed to the priests, and con- 
tains rules governing their Hfe, duties and habits. 
The second is addressed to the laity ; the third 
to the dewas and Brahmas in the worlds of nats. 

It is claimed that the first council to settle the 
sacred canon was held in the year 543 b. c, in 
India ; that the law was rehearsed from memory, 
but not committed to writing ; that the second 
council was held in 443 b. c, when the law was 
again rehearsed, but not committed to writing ; 
that the third and last council, held in 241 b. c, 
and continuing nine months, settled many ques- 
tions in dispute ; and furnished the stimulus of a 
great Buddhist missionary enterprise. Authori- 
ties differ as to the dates of these councils. Dr. 
Judson held that the Buddhist scriptures in their 
present form were not completed until four hun- 
dred and fifty-eight years after Gautama's death. 

Were it possible for any human being to keep 
the law outlined in the sacred books of Bud- 
dhism, and thereby attain to its goal, Neikban^ it 



Buddhism As It Is 145 

might be said : "The gift of Gautama is eternal 
death." How different from the central truth in 
the Christian religion — 

" The gift of God is eternal life." To make 
this known to the nations that sit in darkness, 
rests as a privilege and responsibility upon the 
Christian church. 



VI 

BURMA'S OUTCASTS 

ADMIRERS of Buddhism assert its 
superiority over Hinduism in that Bud- 
dhism has no caste system. In all ages 
and in all lands there has been, in real life, a 
sharp social distinction between the rich and the 
poor. This is inevitable, so long as unsanctified 
human nature holds sway. Burma furnishes no 
exception to the rule. But while Buddhist 
Burma has no caste system, involving con- 
tamination to one caste by contact with another ; 
or social degradation by departing from caste- 
rules, — Burma has her outcasts. 

There are five classes of outcasts, namely: — 
former pagoda-slaves and their descendants ; the 
grave-diggers ; the lepers ; the beggars ; and the 
deformed or maimed. Apostates from the 
Ancestral religion might be added as a sixth 
class. Slavery existed in Burma before the intro- 
duction of Buddhism. When the pagoda spires 
of the new religion began to multiply through- 
out the land somebody must be found to take 
care of the pagoda-grounds. Existing slaves 
146 



Burma's Outcasts 147 

were not available for that purpose, for they had 
been apportioned to the service of the king, and 
others in high life. Prisoners taken in war ; life- 
convicts ; and others who had incurred the dis- 
pleasure of the king were drawn upon to meet 
the fresh and ever-increasing demand. Princely 
captives and their followers are said to have been 
condemned to lifelong drudgery as pagoda 
slaves, with all of their descendants forever, while 
the world should last. As Pagan was the first 
great centre of Buddhism in Upper Burma, there 
it was that this form of slavery originated. 

Buddhism of the southern type was taken to 
Pagan in the eleventh century. The pagodas of 
Thatone were duplicated. One after another 
was built, until an area eight miles long by two 
miles wide along the river was literally covered 
with pagodas, far surpassing any city in the 
world in the extent of its religious structures. 

Pagan ceased to be a capital in the fourteenth 
century, and its wonderful pagodas and temples 
were left to go to ruin. But the king's decree was 
perpetuated in all other important centres, until 
the British Indian Government annexed the 
country, and put an end to compulsory slavery. 
Besides the descendants of the original pagoda- 
slaves, others were added by successive kings, 
whether as punishment for crime, or by arbitrary 
selection of obnoxious villages or families. Once 
a slave always a slave. Posterity was doomed 



148 Among the Burmans 

before it was born. Not only was there no 
possible release from this inexorable law, but the 
common people came to regard the pagoda- 
slaves as a class under a curse. Terrible sins of 
a former existence must have brought this great 
calamity upon them. Their touch was con- 
taminating. Shunned and spurned at every 
point they became a community of outcasts, 
living by themselves, and existing on such offer- 
ings to the idols as could be rescued from the 
dogs and crows. Under British rule this 
form of slavery has nominally ceased to exist. 
But no law of a civilized government could re- 
store the pagoda-slave or his descendants to 
equal social standing with their neighbours. They 
are outcasts still, and outcasts they will remain, 
until Buddhism is no more. 

Climb the long covered stairway leading to the 
Shwe Dagon pagoda, or other of the more 
sacred shrines, you will find your path lined 
with sellers of offerings, paper " prayers," 
candles, and other things used at pagoda-worship. 
These sellers, with rare exceptions, are de- 
scendants of former pagoda-slaves, free in the eye 
of the law, but in slavery still to the unchangeable 
customs of Burman Buddhists. Other Burmans 
will not employ them, even to perform the tasks 
of the common Indian coolie. 

Do they go to some distant place where they 
are not known, and there attain wealth and social 



Burma's Outcasts 149 

position, the first intimation that they are of the 
old pagoda-slave stock mercilessly consigns them 
again to their former condition as shunned 
outcasts. 

Companions in social degradation are the 
" Thu-bah-yah-zahs " or grave-diggers. Every 
Burman burial ground has its little community 
of thu-bah-yah-zahs, living apart from their 
fellow-men. Each community has it head-man, 
who makes the bargain when a grave is to be 
dug. 

There is usually a fixed price for this work. 
But when a grave is to be dug for one who has 
met a violent death the price is gauged by the 
age of the individual. Violent deaths are wind- 
falls to the grave-diggers. 

The grave is filled in the presence of the 
friends, who consider it a mark of respect to 
tarry until the work is done. But it is well- 
known that the grave-diggers do not hesitate to 
exhume a body the following night if the cloth- 
ing in which it was buried, or other objects 
placed in the coffin makes it worth the trouble. 
The coin in the mouth of the corpse, for the 
ferry-fare over the mystic river, is abstracted with 
callous indifference to the future state of 
the deceased. 

As in the case of pagoda-slaves, the grave- 
diggers were devoted to this degrading service 
by a decree of the king. Some say that de- 



150 Among the Burmans 

scendants of pagoda-slaves have swelled their 
numbers. Beggars and lepers are permitted to 
live in their villages. Misery loves company. 
Birds of a feather flock together. A rich thu- 
bah-yah-zah in Mandalay had an attractive 
daughter. Anxious to emancipate her from the 
doom of her class he offered three thousand 
rupees (;^ 1,000) to any respectable man who 
would marry her, and take her away where she 
would not be known. Ten times the amount of 
his generous offer would have been no tempta- 
tion. There is also a distinct beggar-class, of 
practically the same origin as the pagoda-slave 
and grave-diggers, — condemned by the king to 
a life of beggary. Forbidden to engage in any 
self-supporting work, they could be drawn upon 
at any time to fill a lack in either of the other 
classes. This was sometimes for suspected dis- 
loyalty. Few had need to become lifelong 
beggars because of abject poverty, for a respect- 
able Burman, though poor, is able to exist in this 
fruitful land without leaving his own village. 
Neither the aged nor the orphaned are driven 
out to beg or starve. These unfortunates did not 
become beggars because they were outcasts, but 
became outcasts because they were made beggars, 
not of choice, but by royal decree. 

True to his creed, the Burman then heaped 
upon the victim all the blame for his calamity. 
He is only reaping in this life what he sowed in 



Burma's Outcasts 151 

some former existence. Therefore, he and his 
descendants forever are to be despised, and com- 
pelled to remain beggars, whatever their actual 
condition. Some of this beggar class are known 
to have become wealthy, but wealth secures to 
them no social standing. Outcasts they are, and 
outcasts they must remain. 

It has become a deeply-rooted suspicion 
among these people themselves that unless they 
go out and beg at least once a year, some disaster 
will befall them. The children of none of these 
outcast classes are permitted to enter the mo- 
nastic or other schools. 

The admission of one child of outcast parent- 
age, however bright and respectable he may be, 
would stampede any school. This superstitious 
contempt of outcasts is so deep-rooted and uni- 
versal that managers of non-Buddhist schools do 
not find it wise to ignore it. 

Strange to say, the deformed and the maimed 
are held in abhorrence, and blamed for their mis- 
fortune. The disciples asked — " Who sinned, 
this man or his parents, that he should be born 
Wind ? " One day while my train was waiting 
at a station, a poor woman, armless from her 
birth, came by the open window of my compart- 
ment, and stopped for alms. When she had 
passed out of hearing, I said to a heathen Bur- 
man standing by, " How pitiful ! " Without any 
show of compassion he unknowingly repeated 



152 Among the Burmans 

the old-time question — " Because of whose sin 
was she born in that condition ? " That she was 
under a curse he had no doubt. No pity is 
wasted on a person who is born blind, deformed, 
or heir to loathsome disease. He is only getting 
what he deserves, in this life, and nothing can he 
hope for but ages in one of the lowest hells here- 
after. 

With such a belief, is it any wonder that Bud- 
dhists never found asylums or hospitals, or at- 
tempt any organized system of relief for the 
unfortunate. It is of no use to fight against Fate, 
— let Fate claim her own. It is said that census 
enumerators in some sections did not consider 
old men and women worth counting, because 
they were past work ; priests and nuns, because 
they had renounced the world; lunatics and 
cripples, because they were below the level of 
human beings. 

So great is the dread of becoming a cripple 
that a Burman would sooner die than have a 
limb amputated. Better to die respectably than 
be a living disgrace to himself and his family. 
This feeling extends even to post-mortem exam- 
inations, as dooming one to some lower condition 
in the next existence. 

Leprosy, in whatever age or country, seems 
the most pitiable of all calamities. " And the 
leper in whom the plague is, his clothing shall be 
rent, and the hair of his head shall go loose, and 



Burma's Outcasts 1 53 

he shall cover his upper lip, and shall cry, Un- 
clean, unclean. All the days wherein the plague 
is in him he shall be unclean : he is unclean : he 
shall dwell alone ; without the camp shall his 
dwelling be" (Lev. 13 : 45, 46). 

Such was the brand put upon the leper and his 
awful affliction, under the Mosaic law. The 
brand never has been removed, nor the awfulness 
of the disease abated. In Europe this scourge, 
introduced by warlike campaigns, and reintro- 
duced by subsequent crusades, through isolation, 
segregation of sexes, and improved sanitary 
methods, has been nearly exterminated. In 
America its spread is prevented by the same 
means. 

In barbarian or semi-civilized countries no at- 
tempt is made to control the disease. Such was 
the case in Burma, under Burman rule, and still is 
the case throughout the land, outside of a few 
municipalities under English control. Even in 
the larger towns the rule that lepers shall go to 
the asylums, or dwell " without the camp " is not 
rigidly enforced. The leper is an outcast, so 
treated by his own race even more than by Euro- 
peans, but this does not prevent him from wan- 
dering at will through the crowded streets and 
bazars. Rags that have covered his repulsive 
sores may be cast away where men traffic and 
children play. They are permitted to marry 
among themselves, thereby perpetuating and 



154 Among the Burmans 

multiplying the terrible disease. The latest 
census gives a total of 4,190 lepers in Burma 
alone. Of this number 2,940 are males, 1,250 
females. This does not include the large number 
of untainted children of leprous parents, doomed 
to become lepers later in life. On the streets 
one may observe leprosy in all stages. One 
shows no other sign than swollen feet, and may 
not even know that he has become a leper. 
Another shows unmistakable signs of the disease 
by white, red, or violet patches on his skin. 

Another is in the last stage of the disease. 
Where once were feet and hands are only stumps. 
Some have what is left of feet and hands band- 
aged with foul rags. Others, whether from lack 
of wherewith to bandage, or in order to excite 
sympathy and almsgiving, expose their repul- 
sive sores. Passing Buddhists may now and 
then toss a copper into the tin-cup, to get merit 
for themselves, but of compassion they have little 
or none. The leper's own fate or ill-luck, the 
outcome of evil committed in past existences, 
has overtaken him. There is no help for it. 
Why trouble about it ? " Whatsoever a man 
soweth, that shall he also reap," is a tenet of 
Buddhism, as well as of Christianity, but with no 
place for repentance or forgiveness. Fortunately 
leprosy is not infectious. There is not the 
slightest danger from near approach. It is gen- 
erally believed that it is not even contagious, like 



Burma's Outcasts 155 

smallpox or scarlet fever. No doubt there is 
danger of contracting the disease by inoculation. 
Some claim that the use of imperfectly cured, or 
putrid fish as an article of diet, is the cause of 
leprosy. This seems reasonable, but there is 
ample evidence that it is not the only cause. 
Both cause and cure still furnish fields for inves- 
tigation by medical science. • Of the 4,190 lepers 
in Burma only about 560 are in Leper Homes. 

This work is conducted by the Wesleyan and 
Roman Catholic missions in Mandalay, the Ran- 
goon municipahty, and the Baptist mission in 
Maulmein. 

Never yet have the Buddhists of Burma lifted 
a finger to alleviate the sufferings of their out- 
casts. Whatever desultory and trifling almsgiv- 
ing as has been indulged in has been prompted 
not by compassion but by selfishness, to add to 
the giver's own store of merit. This is Buddhism, 
in both theory and practice. Buddhism has been 
extolled as a religion of love and peace. Its love 
is self-love ; its peace self-conceit, and indifference 
to the sufferings of others. But Christian mis- 
sionaries are teaching a striking object lesson. 
While proclaiming the love of God in Christ, 
they are exemplifying their teaching by putting 
forth a mighty effort to relieve these unfortunates 
who have been cast off by their own people. 
English officials give this work their sympathy 
and assistance. The number to share the bene- 



ijC Among the Burmans 

fits of the asylums will steadily increase. Hun- 
dreds of lepers, homeless, friendless, and hopeless, 
waiting and longing for the end, wander about in 
all the towns and villages of the land. This 
wandering habit is the chief obstacle to work 
among them. So long as subsistence can be 
gained by begging, many prefer change of scene 
to the more certain comforts of the Leper Home. 
But the time is not far distant when, in the larger 
towns at least, they will not be allowed to roam 
at will. 

Work for the lepers appeals to the hearts of 
all races, in all Christian lands. Until effective 
means are devised to check the propagation of 
this terrible disease, the need will be ever-increas- 
ing. 



VII 

A NATION IN TRANSITION 

IN nearly all non-Christian lands the first im- 
pressions of western civilization have come 
from the aggressions of commerce. 

The minister of a foreign government has pre- 
ceded the missionary of the Cross. 

The flag of a foreign nation has gone in ad- 
vance of the banner of Christianity. 

Both political and commercial relations may 
have been forced upon the people of [ the weaker 
nation. All this may have been in the best in- 
terests of the world at large ; probably in the best 
interests of the people themselves, however slow 
they have been to realize it. 

Were Christian nations always worthily repre- 
sented commercial, diplomatic, and evangelistic 
efforts might cooperate for the uplifting of back- 
ward races. In the initial attempts to bring 
about the remolding of a nation, the restraining 
influence upon the natives, as exercised by the 
missionaries, is of inestimable importance. Mis- 
sionaries in turn, need protection from fanatical 
and ignorant natives, so easily influenced by irre- 
sponsible characters, to desperate deeds. 

New colonies invariably become a dumping 
157 



158 Among the Burmans 

ground for adventurers. Government officials, 
" transferred for cause," drift farther and farther 
towards the frontier. Because of a scarcity of 
trained men certain positions have been filled by- 
persons morally unfit to represent a civilized 
people. So it transpires that civil law sometimes 
becomes civil lawlessness, which men in higher 
positions are powerless wholly to restrain. But 
sweeping charges that officials of whatever nation, 
in outlying colonies, are " profligate and tyran- 
nical" do gross injustice to many noble men 
who are doing their utmost for the advancement 
of morality and justice. Burma has suffered 
as other colonies have suffered. But there is 
steady progress for the better. The various de- 
partments of government are becoming more 
thoroughly organized ; competent and trust- 
worthy men are in the ascendant. But through- 
out the period since the annexation of Burma by 
the British Indian government — impressions far 
from complimentary to a Christian nation have 
become indelibly fixed in the native mind. 

Vice is always more conspicuous than virtue. 
Unscrupulous men have brought reproach upoi; 
a Christian nation ; and created strong prejudice 
against Christianity itself, that many years of 
good government and evangelistic effort com- 
bined cannot efface. The innocent must suffer 
suspicion with the guilty. It is also true that 
natives are naturally suspicious of all foreigners, 




The Last Kiag of Burma 



A Nation in Transition 159 

and apt to regard even necessary measures as 
oppressive. The old question " Is it lawful to 
give tribute to Caesar ? " crops out wherever 
tribute is exacted. Every son of Adam, the 
world over, holds the tax collector in contempt, 
and will evade payment if possible. " Publicans 
and sinners " are inseparably wedded, in the 
popular mind. 

This deeply-grounded prejudice, whether with 
or without cause, constitutes a serious hindrance 
to the progress of evangelistic work. 

Often the missionary must spend a whole day 
in a jungle village striving to win the confidence 
of the people, who are slow to discriminate be- 
tween the missionary and the official. Suspicion 
as to his character and errand is a greater hin- 
drance than their prejudice against Christianity 
as such. 

At the same time there is reason for believing 
that could the Burmans throw off the British 
yoke, and reestablish a kingdom of their own, 
missionaries would not be permitted to propagate 
Christianity at all. In February, 1826, Adoni- 
ram Judson and Dr. Price, having been released 
from their long imprisonment at Ava and Aung- 
binle, were finally permitted to go down to the 
British camp, Mrs. Judson accompanying them. 
The release of these American missionaries, and 
the recovery of their property, of which the 
Burman officials had heartlessly robbed them, 



i6o Among the Burmans 

were due entirely to special efforts in their behalf 
on the part of the general commanding the 
British troops. Mrs. Judson thus recounted 
their experiences : " We now, for the first time, 
for more than a year and a half, felt that we were 
free, and no longer subject to the oppressive yoke 
of the Burmans. And with what sensation of 
delight, on the next morning, did I behold 
the masts of the steamboat, the sure presage of 
being within the bounds of civilized life. As 
soon as our boat reached the shore. Brigadier 
A and another officer came on board, con- 
gratulated us on our arrival, and invited us on 
board the steamboat where I passed the remain- 
der of the day; while Mr. Judson went on to 
meet the general, who, with a detachment of the 
army, had encamped at Yandaboo, a few miles 
further down the river. Mr. Judson returned in 
the evening with an invitation from Sir Archi- 
bald to come immediately to his quarters, where 
I was the next morning introduced, and received 
with the greatest kindness by the general, who 
had a tent pitched for us near his own, took us 
to his own table, and treated us with the kind- 
ness of a father, rather than as strangers of 
another country. We feel that our obligations 
to General Campbell can never be cancelled. 
Our final release from Ava, and our recovering 
all the property that had there been taken, was 
owing entirely to his efforts. 



A Nation in Transition i6i 

** His subsequent hospitality, and kind atten- 
tion to the accommodation for our passage to 
Rangoon, have left an impression on our minds, 
which can never be effaced. We daily received the 
congratulations of the British officers, whose con- 
duct towards us formed a striking contrast to that of 
the Burmese. I presume to say that no persons on 
earth were ever happier than we were during 
the fortnight we passed at the English camp. 
For several days this single idea wholly occupied 
my mind, — that we were out of the power of 
the Burmese government, and once more under 
the protection of the English " (Memoir of Rev. 
Dr. Judson, by Wayland). 

Such testimony as this is enough to arouse a 
sense of everlasting gratitude in the heart of 
every missionary whose privilege it is to conduct 
mission work under the protection of the British 
flag. Happily there has never been another oc- 
casion in the history of Burma missions to ex- 
tend such kindnesses as Mr. and Mrs. Judson 
enjoyed at the hands of these English officers. 
But missionaries of all societies represented in 
Burma have always been able to number among 
their best friends noble men in some department 
of government service, civil or military. 

Transitions are more readily effected in gov- 
ernment than in religion. The ** Powers that 
be," though recently come into their possessions, 
speak authoritatively. "Might makes right," 



i62 Among the Burmans 

and compels changes, A foreign reUgion speaks 
persuasively, having no authority, and desiring 
none, to compel its acceptance. When a foreign 
religion enters ground already preempted by 
twenty-five centuries of such a strongly organ- 
ized religion as Buddhism, transitions may also 
be reckoned by centuries. The world may wit- 
ness the evangelization of Burma " in this genera- 
tion," but it cannot recall the three generations 
of Burmans that have gone out in the dark 
since Judson began his work in this land. 

" Their idols are silver and gold, the work of 
men's hands." — " They that make them are like 
unto them : so every one that trusteth in them." 
The image of Gautama Buddha bears on its face 
an expression, or rather lack of expression in- 
tended to represent that, to him, change was for- 
ever past. The idol as truly represents Buddhism 
as it does the founder of Buddhism. There is no 
word in the Burman language of wider applica- 
tion than the word for " custom." On that word 
the Buddhist falls back for justification of every 
act, as sufficient reason for non-action, as a clincher 
to every argument. He attaches greater weight 
to ancestral custom than to the teachings of his 
" law " or to the dictates of his own judgment. 
When defeated at every point, in religious con- 
troversy he has been known to say, " If what 
you say is true, then my ancestors have gone to 
hell. I want to go wherever they have gone. 



A Nation in Transition 163 

If they have gone to hell, I want to go there too." 
Aged Buddhists have said : " Our children may- 
become Christians, but we are too old to change. 
We will die in Buddhism, as we have lived." 
They are " Hke unto " their idols in that they 
seem to have no power to change. Having 
" changed the glory of the incorruptible God for 
the likeness of corruptible man " ; " Exchanged 
the truth of God for a he, and worshipped and 
served the creature (Gautama) rather than the 
creator," and " Refused to have God in their 
knowledge," they seem to have been given up to 
a " reprobate mind." They now declare that 
there is no God. If there is no God there can be 
no sin against God. Sins are against .f^"^ only, in 
that they involve penalty. But penalty may be 
counter-balanced by meritorious works. There- 
fore all responsibility to God or man is repudi- 
ated. Each man must be his own saviour. His 
meritorious works are solely for his own advan- 
tage. 

Self-centred, and self-sufficient, — the Christian 
doctrines of an Eternal God, atonement, pardon, 
regeneration and heaven are rejected as idle 
tales concerning things which they consider 
neither necessary nor desirable. The Apostles, 
or missionaries (sent-forth-ones) of the early 
church found that the Gentiles received the gos- 
pel much more readily than the Jews. The lat- 
ter were steeped in bigotry, and imagined them- 



164 Among the Burmans 

selves a superior and specially favoured people. 
They were priest-ridden, and led astray by the 
" traditions of the elders." Any suggestion of 
change was deeply resented, especially by the 
religious teachers. History repeats itself in 
Burma. Non-Buddhist tribes receive the gospel 
far more readily than the Buddhist. Buddhists 
manifest the same Jewish spirit of haughty pride 
and arrogant bigotry. They are priest-ridden, 
and bound down by teachings and customs never 
dreamed of by the founder of their religious sys- 
tem. Pharisees decreed that if any man should 
confess Jesus to be the Christ, he should be put 
out of the synagogue. Where there were no 
Pharisees to agitate against the Christian mis- 
sionaries the common people heard them gladly. 
While the Karens, as a nation, have already 
passed the transitional stage, the Burmans are 
still held back by their pharisaical priests, who 
never lack willing instruments for the execution 
of their malice against converts to Christianity. 
But in communities where there are no priests to 
hold the people in awe, native evangelists have 
little difficulty in securing a good hearing. This 
indicates the real spirit of the people when un- 
trammelled by intimidating influences. Human 
nature is much the same the world over. En- 
vironment and inherited custom make men to 
differ. Results already achieved (to be discussed 
in another chapter) show that Burma is in a state 




Pi 



o 
C5 



A Nation in Transition 165 

of transition religiously as well as politically, 
though less conspicuously. 

The sure promise of God that Christ shall 
have the nations for His inheritance ; the utter- 
most parts of the earth for His possessions, has 
here substantial beginnings of fulfillment. Uhl- 
horn said of the Roman Empire in transition: 
" The most mighty of forces cannot change in a 
day the customs and institutions of an Empire 
more than a thousand years old." In Burma 
these forces are arrayed against customs and in- 
stitutions that have developed during a period of 
twenty-five hundred years. Change of govern- 
ment effects outward changes in the life of a peo- 
ple ; but more than mere change of government 
is required to work changes for the better in the 
soul of a people. Aping European customs may 
give an air of increased respectability, but the 
aping of European vices, always first in order, 
makes the man " Tenfold more a child of hell " 
than before. Much is expected from the govern- 
ment system of education. Education will fur- 
nish a supply of petty officials ; raise the people 
to some extent, from their gross ignorance ; and 
possibly do something towards undermining Bud- 
dhism, — though to undermine Buddhism is far 
from being the purpose or desire of the British 
Indian government. But something more than 
education is required to prepare a nation to be an 
inheritance of the King of Kings. The gospel. 



i66 Among the Burmans 

and only the gospel is the power of God unto the 
salvation of any nation. 

In industry, skill, statesmanship, and all the 
qualities that go to make up a strong people, the 
Burmans are sadly lacking. To come to the 
front rank of progress, as the Japanese have done, 
is not in them, and never will be. But as a de- 
pendent nation, restrained by their conquerors 
from the almost continual warfare which marks 
their history ; and transformed by the leavening 
influences of Christianity, they may yet take the 
front rank among Asiatic races as a Christian 
people. 



VIII 

"BY ALL MEANS— SAVE SOME" 

IN face of the fact that whole nations lie in 
the darkness of heathenism ; bound down by- 
ancestral customs ; priest-ridden ; wedded to 
their idols ; — what seeming folly for a handful 
of missionaries to attempt the world's evangeliza- 
tion. How futile the task of breaking down the 
strongholds of heathen religions that have stood 
for centuries. So they sneered at Carey the 
cobbler. So they tried to discourage Judson. 
A ship's captain once asked an out-going mis- 
sionary to China : 

" Do you think you can make any impression 
on the four hundred milhons of China?" 
" No," said the missionary. " But God can." 

A coloured preacher discoursing on faith, and 
warming to his subject said, " If God tole me to 
jump froo dat wall, Y A jump. De jumpin'j6v(? 
belongs to God. De jumpin' at it belongs to 
me." God certainly has commanded His people 
to " jump " through the wall of heathenism. 
The command is clear, emphatic, and large with 
divine intensity, and promise of power and 
triumph. 

167 



l68 Among the Burmans 

Nothing was said as to methods to be em- 
ployed in making disciples. There are many 
ways of proclaiming the gospel. It may fairly 
be inferred that any or all effective methods may 
be employed; and that methods may vary ac- 
cording to varying circumstances, in order " by 
all means to save some." 

There is danger of too narrow an interpreta- 
tion of instructions. As an illustration, take the 
case of Paul, who " determined to know noth- 
ing " among the Corinthian Christians " save 
Jesus Christ and Him crucified." But in elabo- 
rating his theme he found occasion to discuss 
social purity, matrimony, divorce, celibacy, ap- 
parel for the sexes, the place of woman in 
public gatherings, as well as church discipline and 
collections. Whatever instruction was needed 
for the moral and spiritual development of 
the individual had a direct bearing upon his 
central theme. Such instruction could not be 
omitted without dwarfing the benefits of Christ's 
sacrifice. In God's plan for the evangehzation 
of the world " The foolishness of the preaching " 
is to " save them that believe " ; " Christ cruci- 
fied " furnishing both the theme and the power. 
All other plans have failed. But this theme may 
be proclaimed in many ways ; — by the evangelist, 
as he goes from village to village ; by the pastor 
from the pulpit; by the teacher in the daily 
Bible-study of the school ; by the medical mis- 



"By All Means — Save Some" 169 

sionary, whose ministrations of mercy are ser- 
mons in themselves ; by the holy life of mission- 
ary and disciple ; even by the Christian chapel, 
standing in a heathen community as a silent yet 
significant witness for Christ. All of these 
forces, and others are being used of God in the 
redemption of Burma. 

" Direct evangelization," or the proclamation 
of the gospel-message from village to village, 
throughout the large district to which a mis- 
sionary has been assigned, is the predominating 
method. 

Our first experience in this line came when we 
had been but a few months in Burma, A mes- 
senger from a village twenty-three miles away 
came to inform us that two young men wanted 
to be baptized. Having already made plans to 
visit that village we prepared at once to respond 
to the summons. When a Burman wishes to be 
baptized in the presence of the heathen people 
of his own village, it is taken as evidence that 
the Holy Spirit is working in his heart. Such 
opportunities must not be neglected. 

First we must summon our forces. U Po 
Hlaing must go, because this is the village in 
which he used to live, and these converts are 
fruits of his labours. Ko Thaleh must go, be- 
cause he has had much experience in examining 
candidates, and his judgment can be trusted. 
Maung Ka must go, because he is young, full of 



lyo Among the Burmans 

fire, and will not cease to preach the gospel, 
whatever the circumstances. But it is not easy 
to secure an audience in the heathen village, un- 
less there is some special attraction. " Music 
hath charms " to draw the people from their 
homes, and hold them until the preachers have 
done their work. " Mama " is going, with the 
portable organ, and some of the Christian girls 
to sing, insuring success though other methods 
fail. After going seventeen miles by rail we still 
had six miles to make by ox-cart. The delight 
of an ox-cart ride over rough jungle roads 
beggars description. 

The driver sits on the projecting front, guiding 
the animals, or pretending to, by means of a rope 
passed through their noses. 

Just as we are about to sit down the oxen 
start. We save ourselves by clutching at some- 
body else. A desire to say something emphatic 
to the driver is overcome by inability to speak 
his language, and a feeling of thankfulness that 
we are still on deck. The road is conspicuous by 
its absence, — but that does not matter. All the 
driver wants is to get his bearings, then off he 
goes across sun-baked rice-fields, and through 
the jungle. By instinct he knows that a straight 
line is the shortest distance between two points, 
and he keeps to that line without regard to 
obstructions or our feelings. At last we reach 
the river, and see on the opposite bank the 



"By All Means — Save Some" 171 

thatch-roofed houses of the village. The preach- 
ers shout to the villagers, and soon two boats are 
poled across to take us over. Our boat is a long 
narrow dug-out, our boatman a chubby Burmese 
girl. We are in momentary expectation of being 
dumped into the river ; but happily our expecta- 
tions are not realized. Chubby enjoys it im- 
mensely, and seems proud when she has landed 
us safely. Landing means that the dug-out has 
stuck in the mud, twenty feet from shore. The 
natives could wade, and so could we, but we did 
not like to, through all that mud. A brawny 
bare-backed Burman soon solved the problem 
by taking " Mama " in his arms and carrying her 
to the shore, returning to take the " Sayah " on 
pick-a-pack. 

We were piloted to a house at the farther end 
of the village. Ascending by a short ladder to 
the open veranda we were glad to stretch out on 
the split-bamboo floor for a little rest. After we 
had eaten supper, and the men and women had 
returned from their work in the rice-fields, the 
portable organ was placed in position. In re- 
sponse to its tones, sounds never heard before in 
that village, men, women, and children came 
from all directions. Some sat around on the 
ground, others climbed the ladder and filled all 
available space. The preachers did their best to 
make known the " Glad Tidings." Whenever 
the audience showed signs of thinning out, the 



iyl Among the BurmanS 

organ would send forth another appeal, restoring 
numbers and interest. Sankey's songs, trans- 
lated into Burmese, were sung with vigour by 
the schoolgirls. The " Old, Old Story " seemed 
to take new meaning when sung to the heathen 
by some of their own people who had learned to 
love it and live by it. During the following day, 
while the people were busy at their work, our 
attention was given to the children. 

A dozen or so, drawn by curiosity, had col- 
lected about the house. 

Some were half clad, others with no protection 
whatever, save a string around the neck, with one 
large bead attached. 

All were very dirty, and as shy as rabbits. 
After winning their confidence a picture card 
was given to each, with instructions to go and 
bring other children. 

It was interesting to see them scatter through 
the village to do their first missionary work. 
Few in the home-land realize how helpful to the 
missionary are the bright coloured advertising 
cards. Wild children in jungle villages are won 
by these pictures. Attendance at Sunday-school 
in town may be doubled by their use. But these 
native children want something more than bright 
colours. Strange to say that although fond of 
flowers for personal adornment, they will give 
only a passing glance at the showiest picture of 
flowers; while a picture of a person, — man. 





How We Travel by Cart axd Boat 



"By All Means — Save Some" 173 

woman, or child, of any race, — if in bright 
attire, is eagerly seized. A darky boy riding a 
spool of Coat's thread is more effective than a 
dull Sunday-school card for evangelizing pur- 
poses. Bushels of such cards might be utilized. 

Late that afternoon the council came together 
to examine the candidates for baptism. Sitting 
around on the floor in all sorts of positions they 
formed a strange looking group, yet as sincere 
and earnest as a similar council in the home- 
land. 

The examination was declared satisfactory, so 
after prayer we all started for the river, followed 
by nearly the whole village, curious to witness a 
Christian baptism, — the strange magic rite of 
initiation into the foreign religion. This is 
always a grand opportunity to preach Christ. 
Rather than lose the baptism they will remain 
and listen as they would not at other times. So 
long as the missionary remains in their village 
they will not show, by word or sign, that they 
are not in sympathy with these proceedings. 
The new converts, who have had the courage of 
their convictions, will be made to realize to their 
sorrow the real mind of the people. On the 
way to this village we met a squad of Burmans, 
accompanied by a native poHceman. One of 
the men was carrying a parcel wrapped in 
plantain leaves. Interested to know what was 
in the parcel, that it should require a police 



174 Among the Burmans 

escort, what was our surprise to learn that it con- 
tained a dacoit's head ! Bands of dacoits had 
been giving a great deal of trouble. Several of 
their leaders were still at large. More regular 
methods having failed to secure their capture, the 
British Indian government offered tempting re- 
wards for their heads. Two men living in the 
village to which we were going, surprised one of 
these dacoit leaders in a jungle path, and think- 
ing that his head would be worth more to them 
than it ever would be to him, they struck it off 
with their dahs. The head was taken to the 
court, where it was identified, and the reward 
recovered. 

Continuing our tour, we halted one morning 
at about ten o'clock for breakfast. Our preachers 
had told us what a wicked village this was, how the 
people had driven them out every time they had 
attempted to preach or distribute tracts ; and that 
only a little while before our visit they had 
beaten the wife of one of the preachers because 
she spoke of Christ while resting by the way. 
But this time there was no danger of violence, 
for the presence of one white man is sufficient 
security against serious molestation. So each 
preacher armed himself with a handful of tracts, 
and started out to work the village, and advertise 
our coming. Then " Mama " opened the portable 
organ there in the open air, and played a few 
tunes. Soon quite a number of women and 



"By All Means — Save Some" 175 

children were attracted by the sound. After 
throwing out this bait, we paused for breakfast, 
for we were hungry, hot, and tired, having been 
travelling since the first signs of morning light. 
The people were told to come again about noon, 
and bring others with them. The news that the 
white teachers had come, that one was a white 
woma?t, and played on a wonderful music-box, 
such as they never had seen before, went like 
wild-fire through the village. 

The building in which we hoped to have our 
meeting was set up on posts several feet from the 
ground, according to the custom. The door was 
reached by means of a ladder. How to get the 
people up into the house was the question that 
we must solve. We placed the organ well to the 
back side of the one large room, and posted the 
native helpers as to our purposes. At the ap- 
pointed time the people began to come, — men, 
stripped to the waist as they came from their 
work; women smoking huge cheroots, with 
babies astride their hips ; children of all sizes, 
some clothed, some naked. The missionary's 
wife took her place at the organ and played 
away, tune after tune, everything she could think 
of, from " Old Hundred " to " Gloria in Excelsis," 
and repeated the most of them. Everything 
depended upon the drawing power of the music. 
The preachers and Christian girls, — some up in 
the house, others down in the yard, — coaxed and 



176 Among the Burmans 

urged the people up the ladder until we had 
filled the house. Up to this time I had kept 
well in the background on account of the more 
timid. My object accomplished, I now climbed 
up the ladder and seated myself in the door, — 
the only door there was. With back against one 
door-jamb, and knees against the other, I was the 
gladdest man on earth. We had trapped nearly 
the whole village ! Fully seventy-five people 
who had persistently refused to listen to the 
gospel were penned in with the preachers. To 
crowd out over a white man, even had they 
dared to attempt it, would have been too great 
a breach of Burman etiquette. At a given signal 
the music stopped, and one of the preachers 
addressed the people. He was the very man 
■whose wife had recently been beaten. He began 
by telling them how he had wanted for a long 
time to tell them about this new religion, but 
never had been permitted to do so. He re- 
minded them of their action in beating his wife. 
" But," said he, " I have no hard feelings against 
you. This new religion is a religion of love. 
Its sacred book tells us that ' God is love,' and 
that He ' So loved the world that He gave His 
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on 
Him should not perish, but have eternal life.'" 
Then for about ten minutes, with wonderful tact 
and earnestness, he proclaimed Christ as the 
world's Saviour. After a tune on the organ, to 



"By All Means — Save Some" 177 

keep the people interested and expectant, another 
preacher gave his message. Another tune, and 
then the third preacher emphasized what the 
others had spoken. For three-quarters of an 
hour these people, entrapped by strategy, listened 
to the gospel at short range, and were interested 
in spite of themselves. But two men who were 
specially bitter against the name of Christ, 
climbed out through a window and dropped to 
the ground. 

In the outskirts of that village we found an 
aged couple who professed to be followers of 
Christ. They had heard the gospel elsewhere, 
and with what light they had, believed. The 
villages had utterly cut them off, refusing to sell 
to them, buy from them, or even allow them to 
draw water from the village well. But these old 
people had found the " Water of life." In their 
hearts shone all the light there was in that 
terribly benighted village. Both of them died in 
the faith a few years later. Many of the Karens 
have come down from the mountains and started 
villages of their own in the plains. Until the 
English had thoroughly subdued the country this 
was not possible, as the Karens were terribly 
oppressed by the Burmans. On one of our 
jungle tours we came across one of these Karen 
villages. Nearly all the men understood col- 
loquial Burmese. They received the missionary 
party with great kindness, and eagerly listened to 



iy8 Among the Burmans 

the gospel, which they had not heard before. 
The fifteen houses comprising the village were 
built at regular intervals around the outer edge 
of the small clearing they made in the forest. 

In the open space the Karens were seated in a 
semicircle on the ground, with the missionary 
and native preachers in front. 

We were about to sow precious seed in virgin 
soil. Not a soul had ever heard of Christ be- 
fore. The story must begin at the beginning, — 
the Eternal God; the creation; the fall; the 
revelation of God in Jesus Christ — the Saviour 
of the world. As he went on to tell of Christ's 
majesty and holiness, of His wonderful words and 
works I was deeply stirred. Suddenly the face 
of the head-man lighted up, and with a twinkle 
in his eye he interrupted the preacher. Pointing 
to me he said : " Is this your Christ ? " For a 
moment his question seemed merely ridiculous. 
But as the preacher continued his good work, 
my mind was busy with this heathen Karen's 
mistake. When it dawned upon me that he had 
actually mistaken me for Christ, I never was so 
overwhelmed in all my life. And yet, I thought, 
is it such a mistake ? True, the God-man was in- 
finitely superior to any human being. But the 
missionary represents, for the time, all that these 
people can know of Christ. They must see ex- 
emplified in me the principles of Christianity, and 
the spirit of its Founder. They must see His holi- 



"By All Means — Save Some'* 179 

ness reproduced in my daily life. As He, when 
tried at all points, was without sin ; when reviled, 
reviled not again ; emerging calm and triumphant 
from every distracting storm, so I must manifest 
the Master's spirit, and by His help preserve self- 
control under the most trying circumstances. 
They must see Christ truly represented in my 
life until they can look beyond, to Him who is 
the " Author and perfecter of our faith." That 
was a high standard set for me by that poor 
heathen Karen, but it has proved more helpful to 
me than anything in all my Christian experience. 
It stimulated me to strive the harder to be able 
to say to my people " Be ye imitators of me, as 
I also am of Christ." 

The Burman race has the reputation of being 
thriftless and lazy. Many have prophesied that 
the " Burman must go to the wall " before the 
encroachments of natives of India, Chinese, and 
Karens. As seen in the chief towns the Bur- 
man has fairly earned such a reputation. 

If he has government employment, even a 
petty clerkship, he is good for nothing else. 
Many are " birds of the night " — gamblers — and 
loafers by day. 

The average citizen spends the most of his 
time in indolence, supported by his more enter- 
prising wife. 

But in the jungle villages we find a very dif- 
ferent state of affairs. Few men are found in 



l8o Among the Burmans 

the village in the daytime. To prepare their 
land, plant, harvest, thresh, and market the crop 
of rice, requires diligent work almost the whole 
year round. I have almost regretted their dili- 
gence sometimes, when compelled to spend a day 
in almost idleness waiting for the men to return 
from their fields at sunset. Then an hour or so 
passes while they are getting their evening meal. 
By this time it is pitch dark, if there is no moon. 
There is not a lamp in the whole village. 
Ordinary methods will not attract tired men 
from their homes. There is no time for house- 
to-house preaching. But the Gospel must be 
preached. If we cannot reach them by day we 
must reach them by night. In the home-land a 
magic-lantern service is resorted to now and then, 
as a special attraction. We have come prepared 
to do the same in the jungle villages. Early in 
the day we clean up a spot in the centre of the 
village, and stretch our large white curtain 
between two trees, or support it by bamboo poles. 
A clean white sheet in a conspicuous place, is a 
novelty in itself sufficient to advertise the 
presence of outsiders. While tracts are being 
distributed from house to house the evening 
service is announced. If there is no musical in- 
strument to call the people together the head- 
man is asked to sound his gong at the appointed 
time. 

The magic lantern never fails to draw a crowd. 










^•1 -^ 



Teansplanttng Rice 




DopaAX Sellkk.s 



"By All Means— Save Some" 181 

But as the first picture is thrown upon the screen 
we notice that many are hanging back where 
they cannot see and hear to the best advantage. 
Then we discover that this has been mistaken 
for a traveling show, and that they are keeping 
out of reach of the collection plate. They can 
hardly believe our repeated assertion that all this 
is for them, " without money and without price." 
At last the crowd is gathered in as close as pos- 
sible, the children sitting on the ground in front. 
At first we show a few pictures illustrating their 
own life and customs. How pleased they are 
when a Burmese damsel arrayed in gaudy skirt 
and flowers, appears on the screen. Then we 
pass to pictures illustrating mission work among 
their own people, taking care to emphasize the 
fact that Christianity has already made sub- 
stantial progress in Burma, — has come to stay. 
By this time our dusky audience has become ac- 
customed to the novelty of the situation, and is 
ready to settle down to look and listen. 

Now we pass to our real purpose, — the setting 
forth of Jesus Christ as the world's Saviour". 
Often the preacher has been met with the de- 
mand, " Show us your God." That " God is a 
Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship 
in spirit and truth " is beyond the comprehension 
of the heathen mind. He has no conception of 
an eternal, invisible God. He can point to his 
god in that idol-house on the hilltop, but where 



i82 Among the Burmans 

is the Christian's god ? Great care is taken at 
the outset to make them understand that these 
pictures of Christ on the screen are in no sense 
idols ; that we do not worship the pictures. 
Then each picture is made a text for a brief but 
earnest sermon, as we strive to convey to them, 
through eye and ear, some conception of the 
majesty, power, hohness, and love of God as re- 
vealed in Christ. There is a crisis when we 
reach the picture of the crucifixion. Christ is 
the Christian's God, and his God is dead. That 
thought is expressed in various exclamations. 
Up to this point we seemed to be carrying our 
audience with us, but now they slip from our 
grasp. For the moment the case seems lost, the 
message rejected. How earnestly we pray that 
the Holy Spirit will make " the attraction of the 
cross " realized by these heathen men and women. 
Have we made a mistake in displaying the cross 
in the first proclamation of the gospel in these 
villages ? Surely " Christ and Him crucified " was 
the central theme of Paul's preaching, wherever 
he was. He Himself said, " And I, if I be lifted 
up, will draw all men unto Me." This theme 
and this picture shall have their place, — we will 
leave the result with God. Without waiting for 
too much of a reaction we pass to the picture of 
the resurrection. At once the preacher gathers 
fresh courage. With earnestness and triumph in 
his voice he sets forth the glorious fact of the 



"By All Means— Save Some" 183 

resurrection. " Yes, Christ died for our sins, but 
He laid down His life that He might take it 
again." After citing proofs of the resurrection 
we close with the ascension. Christ enthroned, 
with " All power in heaven and on earth," " ever 
liveth to make intercession for us." 

The people fully understand that there has 
been nothing supernatural in the appearing of 
the pictures on the screen, and yet they are more 
deeply impressed than when appealed to through 
the ear alone. As one man expressed it, " How 
can we disbelieve, when we have seen with our 
own eyes." For day-work we sometimes use 
large coloured pictures illustrating the Hfe of 
Christ. A bamboo pole is fastened up horizon- 
tally about five feet from the ground. The pic- 
ture-roll is suspended under the pole so that each 
picture, when done with, can be thrown back 
over the pole. This method is very effective 
with the children, and can be used when the 
older people are at their work. Both old and 
young enjoy the pictures, for all have child-minds. 

On one occasion we were preaching by this 
method in a Karen village. A middle aged 
Karen, a typical specimen of " the Great Un- 
washed," planted himself directly in front of the 
picture, intensely interested in what he saw and 
heard. As the young preacher graphically de- 
scribed some of Christ's miracles, or told of the 
sad events of the Passion Week, the man's face 



184 Among the Burmans 

was a study. Its expression changed with the 
varying sentiment of the message, — now wreathed 
in a smile that showed all of his blackened teeth ; 
now drawn down with a look of sadness that 
would have been comical but for the sacredness 
of the theme. The narration of Christ's heavenly 
words and works would be responded to by an 
" Ugh, Ugh " of approval ; the story of His re- 
jection, by the same grunts in a different tone, 
expressive of disapproval. This man, at least, 
was ripe for a personal application of the mes- 
sage. 

Now and then we find a village in which is 
more than the usual amount of prejudice against 
Europeans. The people have suffered some real 
or imagined oppression. Not being able to dis-' 
criminate between the missionary and the oflficial, 
they naturally resent his coming. 

Sometimes a whole day must be spent in dis- 
arming their fear. We learn that a man is sick 
with fever, — the medicine-box is opened and the 
sick man treated. Children come peeping around 
the corners, and we win them with picture-cards. 
A young mother goes by with her little one 
astride her hip, and we praise the baby. So by 
degrees we work our way into their confidence 
and prepare the way for our message. 

Not always can the missionary accompany his 
native evangelist in their jungle tours. It may 
be that other forms of mission-work compel him 



"By All Means— Save Some" 185 

to remain at headquarters. It may be that his 
health has become so affected by the climate that 
he can no longer endure the unavoidable hard- 
ship and exposure. It may be that funds are 
wanting to cover the expense of further touring. 
Missionary experience has demonstrated the wis- 
dom of adopting the Master's method, and he 
sends out his native helpers " two by two." One 
man alone cdnfronting the forces of heathenism, 
may become disheartened. Poorly trained, he 
may find himself led into argument only to be 
worsted. He may get sick, and have no one to 
take care of him, or carry a message to his 
friends. But "two by two," one encourages the 
other. When preaching, one supplements the 
other. The one who follows warms to his work 
even more earnestly than the one who led off. 
What one does not think of the other one does. 
We have often marvelled at their faithfulness, 
knowing that nearly every attempt to preach 
Christ to the heathen is met by a rebuff from 
some one. They may have made repeated at- 
tempts without any sign of fruitage. Should 
they " shake off the dust " of their feet as a testi- 
mony against every village in which their mes- 
sage is not well received, they would soon cover 
the ground, and go out of business. 

Often after a day of ox-cart riding, followed by 
preaching extending well into the evening, we 
have retired to our curtained corner in a native 



i86 Among the Burmans 

house, so weary that a bamboo floor seemed 
smooth and soft. Retired, but not to sleep, — 
for no sooner are we out of sight than the preach- 
ing begins again. Among the many who have 
heard the gospel, one, two, or half a dozen want 
to know more about this new teaching. They 
climb up into the house, and with the preachers 
form a circle around the smoking tin lamp. To 
ten, twelve, or one o'clock in the night the 
preaching goes on. We forget our weariness, 
for we know that the very best work of all is now 
being done. The preachers are face to face with 
the few who are willing or anxious to hear, un- 
hindered by scoffers or fear of neighbours. 

Native evangelists are not encouraged to at- 
tend heathen festivals by themselves, although 
these large gatherings furnish good opportunities 
for preaching and tract distribution. Their pres- 
ence at a heathen festival might be misunder- 
stood, besides furnishing an excuse to weaker 
Christians who might be attracted by the pomp 
and show. The one exception is the heathen 
funeral. As has already been pointed out, the 
funeral is also a festival, but animated to some ex- 
tent by a different spirit. There are genuine 
mourners in the house, besides the wailers who 
make such ado by turns. There are truly sym- 
pathetic friends, besides the many who attend be- 
cause it is customary, or to share in the feast. 
There is one solemn subject, death, that will not 



"By All Means— Save Some" 187 

down, besides the idle chatter of the throng. 
Here is the place for the preacher. Now and 
then, it is true, he is summarily dismissed the 
moment he attempts to preach. But as a rule he 
finds many who are in a sober, thinking frame 
of mind, ready to listen to the Christian teacher's 
view of death and the Great Beyond. That the 
deceased will some time reappear, as man or ani- 
mal, they beheve, but not as the same indi- 
vidual. 

The Christian doctrine of the immortality of 
the soul, is utterly foreign to all their thinking. 
They have no conception of a final state of bliss 
or misery. Nothing is final except Neikban, — 
annihilation, — and few there be who find it. In 
the Christian doctrine they see a ray of hope. 
Some from real interest, others from curiosity 
will listen to the message. Sometimes it happens 
that the deceased was the heathen wife of a 
Christian husband, or the heathen husband of a 
Christian wife, for they do not always separate 
where one is converted to Christianity. Such a 
case happened near our home. Ever since his 
baptism Ko Poo had led a terrible life with his 
heathen wife, who cherished the most intense 
hatred of everything Christian. After a linger- 
ing illness Ko Poo realized that his time had 
come. Far from dreading death he hailed it as 
bringing sweet release from an unhappy life. 
Before his death he made his will, bound his lit- 



i88 Among the Burmans 

tie ten year old boy to the mission, and secured 
the missionary's promise that in spite of all op- 
position, he should have Christian burial. His 
people were given their choice whether to have 
the remains taken to the Christian chapel or to 
have a Christian service in the house, in which 
his wife would still be living. They chose the 
latter course. But an unforeseen event occurred, 
complicating matters. The wife was taken sud- 
denly ill, and died at half-past seven in the morn- 
ing, two hours before the death of her husband. 

Some said that her ill-timed demise was a final 
manifestation of her spirit of interference with all 
Christian doings. Be that as it may, it was now 
inevitable that there would also be a heathen 
funeral at the house, at the same time. Here 
was an occasion calling for diplomacy, but not 
for yielding. They knew the missionary too 
well to expect him and his native preachers to 
quit the field. According to native custom a 
body is kept from three to five days, — a danger- 
ous custom, to say the least, in a tropical coun- 
try, with no facilities for embalming. The re- 
mains of the wife might be kept longer if they so 
desired, but according to Christian custom the 
funeral of the husband must be held on the sec- 
ond day. *• Oh, no, that would not be good. 
They had lived together so long, now let them 
be buried at the same time." So they yielded 
that point. Next, where should they be buried ? 



"By All Means— Save Some" 189 

The Christians had their cemetery, and the Bud- 
dhists had theirs. The missionary could plead 
his promise to the dying man that he should 
have Christian burial, a promise badly kept if the 
interment should be in the Buddhist cemetery. 
Of course they were not willing that the wife 
should be buried in the Christian cemetery, — so 
that point was peaceably gained. Then, how 
should the two coffins be conveyed to their last 
resting place ? " As they had hved together so 
long, let the two coffins be carried side by side," — ■ 
but that would not do, for they were not bound 
for the same destination, — .another point quietly 
gained. The next problem was, should the usual 
expensive spire-topped bier be constructed, on 
which to place the wife's coffin. The Christians 
were not providing anything of that kind, so the 
heathen friends were easily persuaded to forego 
their custom for once, and save the money, for 
the benefit of the orphaned children. When the 
time came for the Christians' service the mission- 
ary repaired to the house, whither the native 
preachers had already gone. In fact, one or 
more of them had remained there the entire time 
from the death of Ko Poo. At the appearance 
of the missionary and the Christian company the 
tom-toms ceased their din, and the room was 
made for all to enter. When a movement was 
made to bring from the upper part of the house 
the coffin containing the remains of the husband, 



IQO Among the Burmans 

one of the heathen relatives suggested that both 
coffins be brought down, at the same time, and 
be placed on the trestle side by side. When this 
had been done, the missionary made a sign to 
the native pastor that all was ready for the serv- 
ice to begin. Then the situation, of their own 
creating, dawned upon them. A Christian serv- 
ice was about to be held over the wife as well 
as the husband ! A man jumped up in anger to 
protest, but was quietly though emphatically told 
to sit down and not disturb the service. Chris- 
tian hymns were sung, appropriate scripture 
read, prayer offered, and brief but earnest talks 
made by three of the Christian workers, including 
the missionary. A crowd had gathered filling 
all available space in the large room, and open 
space out to the street. There was not the 
slightest disturbance or evidence of dissatisfaction 
throughout the service. Scores heard for the 
first time of Christ — '• the Resurrection and the 
Life." Many others heard anew, under more im- 
pressive conditions. Then the procession formed, 
the Christian section in advance, and all moved 
slowly up the street, to the sound of the tom-toms 
in the rear. At the Buddhist cemetery, the 
heathen section swung off, the Christians going a 
short distance beyond to their cemetery. The 
husband's relatives followed with the Christians. 
After a brief service at the grave, all returned to 
their homes. So closed a unique experience, 



"By All Means — Save Some" 191 

and a rare opportunity to proclaim Christ as 
Saviour. 

Often the Christians have opportunity to min- 
ister to a mourning mother — " weeping for her 
children ; and she would not be comforted, be- 
cause they were not." In a twofold sense " they 
are not." According to Buddhist behef, for in- 
fants there is no hope. Little boys are hardly 
considered human beings until they have spent 
at least one day in a monastery. The status of 
little girls is still more uncertain. The mourning 
mother has not even David's comfort, " I shall go 
to him, but he will not return to me." She sor- 
rows without hope. Her little one is dead, it 
was too young to have a soul, it is simply to be 
taken away into the jungle and buried. How 
her face brightens with hope, in spite of her be- 
lief, when we tell her that her little one is safe in 
heaven. She is ready to listen to the sweet 
story of Jesus blessing little children ; and saying 
to His disciples, " Suffer the little children to come 
unto Me ; and forbid them not ; for to such be- 
longeth the kingdom of heaven." Her mind 
may be so dark that she fails to take in its wealth 
of meaning, but it is a message of comfort, at 
least. Even some native Christians who had lost 
little ones before their own conversion, have car- 
ried with them the old heathen ideas concerning 
their lost ones until assured by the teacher that 
they will see their little ones again. This truth 



192 Among the Burmans 

comes to them as a blessed revelation, giving joy 
and hope in place of sadness. Human nature is 
much the same, the world over ; the same sus- 
ceptibility to joy and sorrow. Christ in the heart 
makes all the difference. 

A sad occasion, furnishing a grand opportu- 
nity, was the burial of a little child of mixed 
parentage. The father had returned to England, 
leaving his native concubine and two little chil- 
dren. The younger, only about nine months old, 
sickened and died. Heathen friends and rela- 
tives of the mother came to the mission with a 
request that the child be buried according to 
Christian custom. A large company gathered 
at the grave, all Buddhists except the missionary 
and the native pastor. The heathen friends were 
allowed to set a circle of lighted candles around 
the grave according to their custom. Then a 
short passage of scripture was read, containing 
the Saviour's words " Suffer the little children to 
come unto Me, and forbid them not, for to such 
belongeth the kingdom of heaven " ; and " He 
took them in His arms and blessed them, laying 
His hands upon them." Men and women listened 
intently while the precious truth, so new and 
strange to them, was set forth that these little 
ones, far from being soulless creatures, — as Bud- 
dhism teaches, — are choicest material for the 
paradise of God. And that except a man become 
as a little child, in simple trust and purity of 



"By All Means — Save Some" 193 

heart, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Re- 
turning to their homes these people must pass 
the missionary's house. Twenty of them stopped 
to get tracts that they might learn more about 
the Glad Tidings. 

Another method of preaching Christ is 
through " medical missions," or the incidental 
medical work, which every missionary must per- 
form. As a philanthropic work medical missions 
would be justified from a purely medical or 
humanitarian point of view. The woman who 
had " suffered much from many physicians " was 
a victim of men probably much more advanced 
in the knowledge of medicine than the average 
Burman doctor. Both the diagnosis and the 
treatment are based on superstition. 

The so-called doctor enters that profession be- 
cause he has a taste for it and thinks he can do 
well (for himself) at it. He requires no train- 
ing, and no drugs other than he can pick up in 
the jungle as he goes along, — herbs, barks, and 
roots of a peculiar smell, shells, stones, etc. 
carefully gathered at the right time of the moon. 
Some of the articles in his stock possess a real 
medicinal value, and now and then are put to 
their proper use, as is the case in country dis- 
tricts the world over. Any one of the ninety- 
six diseases which, according to the Burman 
notion, the flesh is heir to, may have come from 
one of about as many different causes. The sick 



194 Among the Burmans 

man may have been bewitched, one of their 
many demons may be having a turn at him, or 
perhaps he has offended the great nagah, or 
dragon. If it is due to the balance of kan, fate 
being against him, the case is hopeless. That 
the sickness was caused by eating unripe fruit, 
drinking from a polluted well, or eating dried and 
putrid fish seldom occurs to the man of science 
who has come on to the scene to lessen the 
chances of recovery. Such is the fear of cholera 
that cathartics, in many cases the only remedy 
needed, are rarely given. Some of the Burmese, 
averse to taking medicine of any kind, prefer to 
call a dietist. No matter what the ailment may 
be, the patient's birthday determines the treat- 
ment. Every Burman knows the day of the 
week on which he was born, though he may not 
know the month or the year. 

His own name would recall the day, should he 
forget it. Certain letters are assigned to each day 
of the week, according to the planet from which 
the day took its name. The person's name must 
begin with one of the several letters belonging 
to his birthday. Now in like manner all kinds 
of food beginning with one of those letters the 
patient must carefully shaung, — avoid. Rice 
would be tabooed on Saturday, but as no 
Burman can eat at all without rice, an exception 
is made, to save the doctor's popularity. Bury- 
ing an effigy of the sick person is sometimes re- 



"By All Means — Save Some" 195 

sorted to, in order to fool the demon who is 
hanging around the house. Thinking his victim 
has died, he will depart. Massage sometimes is 
very helpful. Half a dozen people in a village 
are noted for their knowledge of the muscles of 
the human body, and for special skill in the 
shampooing process, but nearly every man and 
woman attempts it now and then. This may be 
done with the hands, or by treading slowly back 
and forth on the prone body of the sufferer. 
Practiced with discrimination it has more value 
than all the nostrums of doctors or dietists. But 
unfortunately the Burmese practice it for every- 
thing, from a lame toe to confinement cases. A 
prominent Burman in Rangoon recently declared 
as his behef that Burma's immunity from the 
plague is due to the reverence of the people for 
the " three precious things " of Buddhism, " the 
Buddha, the law, and the priest." Against the 
occult power of Karma on the right side of the 
scale, accumulated by such faithful observance 
of the noble precept, the baccilli of the plague 
can make no headway. By the same reasoning 
the presence of the plague in India is attributed 
to the fact that Hinduism with its revolting 
customs and bloody sacrifices has supplanted 
Buddhism in that country. 

Putting these two together he confidently 
asserts that the only effectual remedy for the 



196 Among the Burmans 

plague in India is the restoration of Buddhism 
as the national religion. 

Mortahty among infants is very high. This 
is remarkable when one considers the faithfulness 
of the mother in attending to its wants, starting 
it on honey and water in place of its natural 
food ; and afterwards supplementing its natural 
food by stuffing Httle wads of boiled rice into its 
mouth while it is yet but a few weeks old. 
Moreover, special precautions are taken against 
the departure of the little one's " butterfly- 
spirit." That which the Christian calls the soul, 
the Burman calls the sense of knowing, and is 
personified as the " butterfly-spirit." When the 
body dies the butterfly-spirit also dies. When a 
mother dies leaving an infant behind, immediate 
precautions must be taken t6 prevent the child's 
butterfly-spirit from going off with the mother's. 
Incantations are resorted to, and they distractedly 
appeal to the dead mother not to take away the 
butterfly-spirit of the babe. 

Then a ceremony is performed with a tuft of 
fluffy cotton to imitate the return of the spirit to 
the body of the child, who is blinking in blissful 
unconsciousness of the awful crisis through 
which it is passing. During one's sleep the 
butterfly-spirit may go wandering about by itself, 
hence the pecuHar experiences in dreams. The 
temporary absence of the butterfly-spirit does no 
harm, unless perchance it gets lost in the jungle, 



"By All Means — Save Some" 197 

or badly frightened, it rushes back so tumultu- 
ous as to cause a shock to its owner. Another 
danger is that the person may be roused from 
sleep while the butterfly-spirit is off on a picnic, 
in which case he would at least be sick until 
the spirit returns. A sleeping man must not 
be disturbed, however imperative the sum- 
mons. 

I was once the victim of over solicitude on 
my behalf. TravelHng to Rangoon by night- 
train, with a Burman as a companion I fell 
asleep. The Burman knew that I was very 
anxious to reach my destination on time. 

He also knew that while I was asleep our 
train was delayed, and that an opportunity 
offered for a transfer to the mail-train which had 
the right-of-way. But that fellow, educated and 
Christian that he was, had not outgrown the feel- 
ing that a sleeper must not be roused, and so let 
the chance slip by. An important business en- 
gagement was missed, to say nothing of subsist- 
ing on one ear of boiled corn until twelve o'clock 
the next day. Much more might be said to 
show that there is a large field, and an urgent 
demand for medical missions. I am fully per- 
suaded that, given a medical missionary with an 
" evangelistic temperament," which means a 
" passion for souls," no other missionary agency 
can be compared with medical missions. Es- 
pecially is this true of work among Burman and 



198 Among the Burmans 

Shan Buddhists. The value of the work de- 
pends largely on the man himself. 

If he cannot or does not win the people to 
himself he never will win them to Christ. The 
spiritual work will suffer in proportion as he al- 
lows himself to become absorbed in the purely 
medical or scientific side of his work, leaving 
the evangelistic work to the native helpers. 

The doctor has rare opportunities for personal 
influence in his dispensary and in heathen homes. 
It is to be greatly regretted that at the present 
time there is not one medical missionary in the 
whole country assigned to Burman Buddhists, 
who comprise about four-fifths of the population. 
All of the Shan mission stations have medical 
missionaries, and the success of their work testi- 
fies to the soundness of the policy, though this 
policy was due primarily to the need of such 
protection for the missionary family in these 
frontier stations. 

The medical missionary has a double hold on 
the people. The dispensary brings them to him, 
and his outside practice takes him to their homes, 
and that by invitation. In both respects he has 
an advantage over the clerical missionary. More- 
over, as medical treatment is the ostensible ob- 
ject in their case, anti-Christian opposition is not 
prematurely excited. Frequent visits of the 
clerical missionary to a heathen home, brands 
that home as leaning towards Christianity. The 



"By All Means — Save Some" 199 

one, by relieving suffering, removes prejudice, 
although he may at the same time proclaim 
Christ as faithfully as the other who, by making 
that his sole errand, unavoidably excites preju- 
dice. If as the result of a man's ministrations 
the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, and 
fevers are banished, he is forgiven for being a 
Christian, and others are forgiven for consorting 
with him. 

All governments and religions recognize the 
fact that to elevate a people the beginning must 
be made with the children. It is too late now 
to " begin with the child's grandfather." Mis- 
sionaries do not confound education with evangel- 
ization, but they do recognize its great value in 
the evangelizing process. Ideally, evangelization 
should come first, and education afterwards to 
meet the consequent demand. This is usually 
the method followed, to the extent of the evan- 
gelizing force available. The missionary to Bur- 
mans is shut up to a choice between losing the 
children of Christian parents to the government, 
Roman Catholic and S. P. G. schools ; and estab- 
lishing an anglo-vernacular school of his own, in 
connecting with the Education Department of 
government. It has come to pass that every 
school for the Burmese in the towns, must have 
government registration, and must teach Eng- 
lish. Every boy, whether from a Christian or 
heathen home, is bound to have the certificates 



200 Among the Burmans 

which only registered schools can give, and is 
bound to have an English education. If the 
missionary does not provide the opportunity the 
male children of his Christian community will 
go where they can get it. The Education De- 
partment holds annual promotion-examinations. 
Certificates are given to all who complete the 
course. These certificates are the condition of 
securing employment in government clerkships, 
mercantile houses, and in all schools connected 
with the Education Department. The boy Avho 
picks up his education in a vernacular school, or 
a non-registered school, however proficient he 
may become, stands no chance in the race. So 
much for the point of view from the native side. 
It is also a generally recognized fact that non- 
Christian races never will be evangelized by the 
missionary alone. The great work of the mis- 
sionary is to train up a native evangelizing agency 
through which he can multiply himself, perpet- 
uate himself, and establish a self-sustaining work, 
that will go on when he shall have been com- 
pelled to lay it down. 

Time was when a middle-aged convert from a 
jungle village, with no education beyond the 
ability to stumble through a chapter in his Bible 
could do fairly effective service. Such men are 
still helpful outside of the towns, if helped by the 
missionary to a better understanding of their 
message. Evangelists of such limited training 



"By All Means — Save Some'' 20 1 

are far from ideal, even for jungle tours. In the 
towns their influence is very slight. 

How shall a stronger force be provided ? Only 
through the mission schools, — there is no other 
way. It may be said that the missionary is not 
called upon to educate clerks for government. 
It is also true that he is not called upon, by his 
Master, to decide beforehand what boys in his 
mission shall be educated for the ministry. Much 
of a boy's training must be given before he him- 
self is sufficiently mature to comprehend a divine 
" call " to the ministry. If no place is given for 
such a call, the native ministry will be filled with 
men who would do better service in the rice- 
fields. Rice would be their main object in the 
ministry. Moreover, the preliminary training 
cannot even be deferred until the boy is con- 
verted. The vocation of the preacher is not 
hereditary, like that of the various castes in 
India. The son of a dacoit may be converted 
during his school life, and become a preacher. 
The son of a preacher may become a dacoit, or 
at least never feel called to the Christian min- 
istry. The mission school cannot even be lim- 
ited to children of Christian families. Opening 
the doors to all classes willing to pay for the ad- 
vantages of the school greatly reduces its cost to 
the mission. 

Increase of numbers does not involve increase 
in the number of classes or teachers. Much of 



202 Among the Burmans 

the expense is thereby placed where it belongs, — 
upon the people themselves. Opening the doors 
to all classes furnishes the grandest field for evan- 
gelistic work within the missionary's sphere of 
influence. Every day in the week Christian in- 
fluences are brought to bear upon the same indi- 
viduals ; Christian truths are inculcated ; the 
creeds of false religions forestalled in youthful 
minds ; prejudice against Christianity dispelled, and 
either during school life, or when the pupils are free 
to break from the control of heathen parents many 
converts are gained. From these converts, as well 
as from children of Christian parents, come ac- 
cessions to the mission force of teachers and 
evangelists. Paul was " laid hold on by Christ 
Jesus " for special service while he was yet as in- 
tense a hater of Christianity as can be found in 
Buddhist Burma. From among the unconverted 
children now in mission schools some, already 
chosen in the foreknowledge of God, will be 
" laid hold on " to be Gospel preachers to the 
rising generation. 

From the early days of Buddhism in Burma, 
even before the language was reduced to writing 
there were monastic schools for the purpose of 
teaching boys the doctrines of the new religion. 
When the language was reduced to writing, all 
boys were compelled to attend the monastic 
school to learn to read and write, in addition to 
the memorizing of portions of the sacred books. 



"By All Means — Save Some" 203 

This is still the custom, where no English schools 
are provided. With the advent of the English 
school compulsory attendance at the monastery is 
continued for religious purposes only, and may be 
limited to the brief period required by the novi- 
tiate ceremony, through which every boy must 
pass. This may extend to three months, or 
be cut short at the end of a week, according to 
the zeal of the parents, or the anxiety to get the 
boy back into the English school so that he may 
not lose his promotion examination. Let a boy 
spend a year in the monastery, and you have a 
full-fledged Buddhist to deal with. Take the 
same boy into the mission school at the age of 
five or six, even earlier where there is a kinder- 
garten department, and you have a child who is 
no more a Buddhist than your own little ones. 
Buddhism is not hereditary, it is the result of 
training and environment. Forestall that train- 
ing by taking the children into the Christian 
school, and there train them in the blessed doc- 
trines of Christianity. For the poisonous en- 
vironment of the heathen home and com- 
munity, substitute the Christian influences of 
life in the mission school. For this purpose 
the boarding-school, in which the pupils are 
required to live, and be under Christian in- 
fluences and safeguards day and night is worth 
vastly more than the day-school, which holds 
the pupils only during school hours, allowing 



204 Among the Burmans 

them to return at night to their heathen 
homes. 

But the existence of the mission day-school, 
with its staff of native Christian teachers, and 
its daily Bible-study is amply justified by results. 
The pupils thus kept away from the monastic 
school are not being indoctrinated in Buddhism ; 
they are being indoctrinated in Christianity. 
F"ew children in Christian lands receive a like 
amount of Bible teaching. I venture to say that 
there are day-schools in Burma, made up largely 
of children from heathen homes, that could suc- 
cessfully compete with the average Sunday- 
school in America in answering questions on the 
Bible. Heathen parents of pupils in the day- 
school have complained that their children have 
already renounced Buddhist worship and cus- 
toms, and openly preach Christ to their own 
parents. Whether these pupils are gathered into 
the Christian fold or not, a few years hence they 
will be rearing families of their own. The next 
generation, born of pupils now in mission schools, 
will not be taught to hate everything in any way 
connected with the " Jesus Christ religion," as 
these pupils have been. Even the day-school is 
one of the stepping-stones heavenward for these 
benighted beople. 

The Karen village school-teacher, besides his 
regular work in the school, brings his influ- 
ence to bear on the parents as well, with the re- 




Oh, 



"By All Means — Save Some" 205 

suit that in many instances the entire village is 
won to Christianity. Some of these teachers are 
marvels of consecration. Poorly fed, poorly 
clothed, often with no other pay than their 
meagre fare, far from home and friends, — they 
are worthy a place among the heroes of our 
time. 

Scores of these schools are now in operation. 
Their value as an evangelizing agency can hardly be 
estimated. Many of these teachers are young men, 
just out of the training-school in town. Follow- 
ing the example of the missionaries under whom 
they have been trained, and catching something 
of their spirit, these young men have themselves 
become missionaries. If in Christian villages 
without settled pastors, not only the children in 
the school, but men and women of all ages be- 
come their pupils, recognizing the young teach- 
ers' superior training, and willingly sitting at 
their feet, both in their homes and at the regular 
worship in the village chapel. If in non-Chris- 
tian villages the teacher, by his school and such 
other influences as he can bring to bear, excites 
an interest in Christianity, of which as yet they 
know nothing. 

They wanted a school because they had no- 
ticed, or had it impressed upon them by the mis- 
sionary, that other villages were benefited by 
having schools. The missionary seizing the op- 
portunity, inserts this entering wedge, with its 



2o6 Among the Burmans 

Christian influences which they would not accept 
from the regular evangelist. The net is cast, and 
it gathers of every kind. Soon " the kingdom of 
heaven suffereth violence " and the whole village 
would take it by force, only checked by the re- 
quirements that they utterly abandon their spirit- 
worship, and turn unto the Lord with all their 
hearts. 

This requirement not only differentiates the 
Christian villages from the heathen, but from the 
Roman Catholic villages as well, for the latter are 
allowed to retain all their old customs and vices, 
adding thereto the vices of their foreign teachers. 
Martin B. Anderson once wrote to a friend — 
" The work of our eastern missions is vastly more 
comprehensive than ordinary Christians suppose. 
It is nothing else than the creation, among a 
heathen, semi-barbarous, and ignorant popula- 
tion, of the most advanced type of Christian civ- 
ilization. This at least ought to be the ideal 
which we should have before our minds, and for 
whose realization we should constantly labour. 
The cultivation of the moral and religious nature 
of man should be carried on simultaneously with 
the highest practical development of the intellec- 
tual powers. Can such an education as our east- 
ern converts require be communicated to them 
through their vernacular languages? My own 
impression is that it cannot. It (the English lan- 
guage) comes to them freighted with all the in- 



"By All Means — Save Some" 207 

tellectual accumulations of the past. It brings to 
them the terminology of spiritual religion, of the 
science of the mind, and the science of God. 
Their preachers and teachers, and moral and po- 
litical leaders must be trained in English, or their 
education will be inadequate and narrow." 

The foregoing pages describe some of the 
many methods employed by our missionaries, 
who would " by all means . . . save some." 



IX 

"WITH PERSECUTIONS" 

AMARAPURA had been the capital of 
Burma forty years when, in 1823, a great 
fire destroyed some of the royal build- 
ings. Having decided that Amarapura was an 
unlucky place the capital was restored to Ava, 

Judson's first visit to the capital occurred at 
this time. The king had requested him to open 
a mission at Ava, and offered land for the pur- 
pose. Then a war cloud on the western coast 
arose to darken his prospects. The British at 
Chittagong refused to deliver up certain Burmans 
who had taken refuge there. 

In 1824 the Burman king declared war. Sev- 
eral Englishmen who were then at Ava, were 
seized and thrust into prison. 

Judson and his associate, Dr. Price, suspected 
of being in league with the English, were also 
imprisoned. 

The son of Bodawp'ra, known in history as 
Badawgyi, was then king. 

The Burman kingdom, with the exception of 
Chittagong, was yet intact. The haughty king 
imagined himself to be the most powerful mon- 
208 



"With Persecutions" 209 

arch on earth ; and that his cities were impreg- 
nable, his armies invincible. Unable to discrim- 
inate between Americans and Englishmen, the 
king caused all white men to be thrown into 
prison together. 

Eleven months at Ava and six months at 
Aungbinle Judson and Dr. Price suffered inde- 
scribable misery. 

Bound with chains, crowded in with scores of 
natives, famishing from lack of suitable food, the 
whole place reeking in filth. Mental distress was 
almost equal to the physical, for Judson's be- 
loved wife and child, whom he longed to see, 
were also suffering. In the providence of God 
their lives were spared, but they would feel the 
effects of such sufferings to the end of their 
days. 

A school history of Burma contains this touch- 
ing reference to the released missionaries and 
Europeans : " A sadder spectacle has seldom 
been presented to living human beings than that 
which was offered to the English camp by those 
liberated captives. They were covered with 
filthy rags, they were worn to skin and bones, 
and their haggard countenances, sunken, wander- 
ing eyes, told but too plainly the frightful story 
of their long suffering, their incessant alarms, and 
their apprehension of a doom worse than death." 
Such was the experience of the first missionary to 
Burma. The oft-repeated remark, " The days 



210 Among the Burmans 

of missionary heroism are past," has done much 
to deaden interest in foreign missions. It is not 
my purpose to give a prominent place to the 
subject of missionary sacrifices. 

A few illustrations, which might be multiplied, 
will serve to show to what extent the spirit of 
Burman Buddhists has changed since the time 
when they inflicted upon Judson such terrible 
tortures. , 

In 1842, a few years after Judson triumphantly 
held aloft the last leaf of the Bible translated into 
the Burman language, the first martyr laid down 
his life '• for Christ's sake and the gospel's." His 
name was Klo Mai, — a converted Karen. A 
company of Burmans broke into his house, 
abused him cruelly, threatening his life if he 
would -not recant. 

His son Shwe Nyo, also a Christian, leaped to 
the ground and hid himself in the jungle, but not 
until he had been severely stabbed. Klo Mai was 
dragged from his house and crucified by his 
heartless tormentors. Bound to a hastily con- 
structed bamboo cross, in the form of a letter X, 
he was left to die, and did die, rather than deny 
his Master. 

His son Shwe Nyo, became an effective 
preacher of the gospel, stimulated to the greater 
earnestness by his father's faithful example. 

Surely he " bore in his body the brand-marks 
of the Lord Jesus," for he carried with him until 



"With Persecutions" 211 

his death in 1892, the scar of that stab received 
in his youth. 

Buddhism has been said to be the most toler- 
ant of all non-Christian religions ; and the Bur- 
mese the most tolerant of all Buddhist peoples. 
This may be true, up to a certain point. Judson 
gave as the reason why Portuguese Roman Catho- 
lics were left unmolested in Burma, that " very 
few Burmans entered that church, proselytism 
being the only thing in foreign religions to which 
Buddhists object." But to gain a convert from 
Buddhism he declared to be " Hke pulHng the 
tooth of a tiger." 

With the establishing of an elaborate police- 
system, by the British government, and the cer- 
tainty that crime would be punished, missionaries 
and native converts no longer had reason to fear 
the more violent forms of persecution. But the 
Burman still found ways to persecute, without 
laying himself liable to the law of the land, when 
one of his people had the temerity to forsake the 
ancestral religion. 

A case of this kind was very soon brought to our 
notice. Our personal teacher was a young con- 
vert. In his native village he had heard the gos- 
pel from a travelling evangelist; learned more 
from tracts that were given him; believed 
what he heard and read, and openly declared his 
belief to his people. This excited such anger and 
opposition that he was obliged to run away from 



212 Among the Burmans 

home. His people followed him to the mission, 
threatening to kill him if he did not renounce 
Christianity, and return to his village. The 
young man again escaped from his persecutors, 
and remained in hiding until they returned to 
their homes. The missionary gave him the train- 
ing he so earnestly desired, and he became an 
effective preacher. A few years later, in com- 
pany with the missionary and others, he returned 
to his village and openly proclaimed Christ be- 
fore them all. At our mission station a middle- 
aged man was led to Christ by this young man. 
The new convert's wife and others bitterly 
opposed his companying with the Christians, and 
attending their worship. When it became known 
that he was to be baptized, his mother followed 
him to the river and earnestly besought him to 
give up his crazy purpose. Failing in this she 
returned home and told his wife that her husband 
had actually been baptized before her eyes. This so 
enraged her that she snatched his clothing from 
its place, and would have cut it to bits had not 
the mother prevented her. For several days and 
nights the husband and father had to remain 
away from his family, waiting for the atmosphere 
to clear. At last the wife consented to live with 
him, but her continued opposition was a source 
of great unhappiness until, a few years later, he 
was called to " come up higher." At another 
mission station an old man became a convert, and 



"With Persecutions" 213 

felt it his duty to be baptized. At first he shrank 
from it, knowing what the consequences would 
be, but he felt that he should " obey God rather 
than man." His decision raised a terrible storm 
of opposition. His own grown-up children joined 
with the rest in calHng him crazy. They tore 
around like fiends, slapped and pushed the poor 
old man, and twice knocked him to the ground, 
before the missionary could rescue him. It was 
a terrible test, but God was with him. 

Encouraged by the missionary, he walked out 
of the village to the waterside, and without one 
of his relations to witness his " obedience of 
faith " he followed his Lord in baptism. Radiant 
with joy he returned to the village, though he 
knew that henceforth his foes would be " they of 
his own household." 

Another missionary has given the following 
account of the conversion and baptism of a pupil 
in one of the mission schools. 

" It gives me great joy to record the baptism 
of another of our pupils, the first Burman to be 
converted in our school, or in this town, so far as 
I know. He has come out amidst bitter opposi- 
tion and persecution from all his friends. 

" More than a year ago he asked his parents' 
consent to his baptism, but received nothing but 
curses from his mother, and tearful entreaties to 
postpone his baptism, from his father. After 
waiting a year he told them firmly that he had 



214 Among the Burmans 

decided to obey God rather than man, and that 
ii they still withheld their consent he must be 
baptized without it. So during a visit from 

Mr. last month he presented himself as a 

candidate for baptism. His sister came to the 
preliminary meeting, and attempted to prevent 
his being received. Failing in this she left in 
anger, threatening him with a beating when he 
returned home. He had scarcely left the river- 
side, when his mother appeared, and after much 
loud and abusive language ordered him home, re- 
newing the sister's threat of a beating. He went 
obediently, saying as he left, ' This is a very hard 
day for me, but I can bear it with joy for Jesus' 
sake.' 

" They did not use personal violence, but em- 
ployed every other means to hurt and humiliate 
him. When he remained steadfast they called in 
all their relations and friends, a large and respect- 
able company, for they are a family in good 
standing, and spent the evening in trying, some 
by gentle persuasion, some by threats and ridi- 
cule to make him renounce his Christian faith. 
But he only answered that he knew he had found 
the right way, and should never forsake it. He 
even dared to preach to them of the true God, 
until his father commanded him to stop. 

" The following Sunday they took away his 
jacket, and threatened to come and curse us if he 
came to worship. Since they have given up the 



"With Persecutions" 215 

hope of winning him back to Buddhism, they 
simply ignore his presence in the house, and have 
informed him that he is at liberty to eat at home 
but will never receive another pice from them 
while he remains a Christian. His former friends 
have forsaken him, some even refuse to speak to 
him. Yet he has not wavered for a moment, and 
often says with a radiant face, ' This religion is a 
very happy religion.' " 

In a distant village lived a young Christian 
Burman, with his heathen wife. He was the only 
Christian in the place, and for miles around. 
Unflinchingly he confessed Christ as his Saviour, 
in the face of much prejudice and opposition. 
One night men burst into his house and de- 
manded his money and other valuables. Not 
securing so much as they expected, they began 
beating him with their clubs. He shouted with 
all his might, but not a soul stirred in the sur- 
rounding houses. With each blow they reviled 
him saying, " Can Jesus save you ? Can Jesus 
Christ save you ? " Having satisfied their brutal 
instincts, and being unable to secure more plun- 
der they descended to the ground, dragging the 
young man with them. As they passed through 
the village they shouted threateningly, " Let no 
one follow us." There was little danger that any 
one would follow. There was not a hght in the 
village, and not a head showed itself. Doubtless 
some of the villagers were in league with these 



2i6 Among the Burmans 

villains, others were intimidated, supposing they 
were dacoits. 

The young man, bruised and suffering, was 
forced to accompany his persecutors about a 
mile, where they released him. He worked his 
way back to the village, and on the following day 
persuaded two men to take him to the nearest 
railway station, six miles away. 

Jungle roads were impassable, but he made the 
journey astride a buffalo. Reaching the mission 
station he was examined by the medical mission- 
ary, who found that he had sustained a green 
fracture of two ribs, besides a serious scalp wound 
and many bruises. Acting on information fur- 
nished by the missionary, the police traced and 
captured the whole band. They were sentenced 
to terms in the penitentiary, ranging from four to 
seven years. 

Here is an extract from a missionary's account 
of a tour made in 1883 to a town in Upper 
Burma where now is a Christian church and 
school : 

" Before going north Maung was 

warned not to use the same boldness of speech 
that he was accustomed to use in British Burma, 
lest they should kill him. But as far as I ob- 
served he was bolder than ever, denouncing idol- 
atry in every form, and pleading the merits of 
Jesus Christ. 

•' A German who had declared that there was 



"With Persecutions" 217 

not a true conversion among the Burmans, was 
compelled to acknowledge that he had been mis- 
taken, for no man (said he) could face what this 
one did who was not a Christian." 

As has been said, there is little reason, at the 
present time, to fear for one's life. But such in- 
stances of persecution as here given are being 
repeated at every station where mission work 
among Buddhists is being carried on. Here we 
have enacted before our eyes a living commen- 
tary on these words of Christ : " Think not that 
I came to send peace on the earth, I came not 
to send peace, but a sword. For I came to set a 
man at variance against his father, and the 
daughter against her mother, and the daughter- 
in-law against her mother-in-law ; and a man's 
foes shall be they of his own household. He 
that loveth father or mother more than me is not 
worthy of me ; and he that loveth son or daugh- 
ter more than me is not worthy of me." The 
doctrine that " There is no other name whereby 
we must be saved " inevitably would produce this 
very result, as every missionary witnesses. 

It is my profound conviction that missionaries 
and native converts owe the safety of their lives, 
under God, to the strong arm of the British 
Indian government. Doubtless the majority of 
Burman Buddhists, if left to themselves, would 
tolerate any foreign religion in their midst. 

But they are not left to themselves. The priest 



2i8 Among the Burmans 

is the Pharisee of Buddhism ; each idol-maker a 
modern Demetrius. The one says : " Only by 
our hold upon the superstitious reverence of the 
people we have sustenance." The other says : 
" Only by this business have we our wealth." 

Both hate the Christian evangelist with a bitter 
hatred. Take away the strong arm of the law 
which, by many severe lessons, they have learned 
to respect, these emissaries of Satan would make 
the advent of a Christian evangelist an occasion 
of rioting rivalling that of Ephesus. 

Judson's experiences would be repeated in the 
experience of many a missionary. As it is there 
are scores of Buddhists who secretly admit that 
Christianity is right, but dare not openly break 
away from the toils of this Buddhist hierarchy. 

The reign of Badawgyi, the king that im- 
prisoned Dr. Judson, extended to 1857. During 
the last years his authority was but nominal. 

The humiliation of his defeat by the English ; 
loss of territory ; and from 1830, the degradation 
of being compelled to have a British resident in 
the royal city finally drove him insane. In that 
condition he remained until his death, in 1845. 
So ended the career of this cruel king under 
whom Dr. Judson suffered. At about this time 
the capital was again transferred to Amarapura, 
which remained the capital until the founding of 
Mandalay, in i860. 

Ava was left to fall to ruin. From the found- 



"With Persecutions" 219 

ing of Ava until it was finally abandoned, thirty 
kings had reigned there, for periods from a few 
months up to thirty-eight years, including tem- 
porary changes of the capital. 

I visited the site of Ava in August, 1903, 
crossing the Irrawadi River, from Sagaing. The 
old city wall, from which much of the brick- 
work has been removed, still stretches along the 
bank of the river for two miles. The main 
entrance, through which Judson must have passed 
and repassed, is still intact, though the great gates 
have disappeared. 

The city was built in the angle formed by the 
junction of the Irrawadi and Myitngi Rivers, and 
extended back along the Myitngi one and a half 
miles. A smaller inner wall enclosed the palace 
and other royal buildings. Only one building of 
the entire city is still standing. 

This building is of brick, plastered on the out- 
side with cement, and represents the best work- 
manship of which their imported Indian archi- 
tects and masons were capable. It is about 
twenty-five feet square and seventy-five feet 
high, and is without doors or windows. There 
was a brick and plaster stairway on the outside, 
winding around the tower. From some unknown 
cause the tower long ago settled on one side, so 
that it leans fully six feet out of perpendicular. 
This settling threw down the massive brick stair- 
way, which now lies in chaotic ruin. 



220 Among the Burmans 

This lofty building, standing within the royal 
quarters, was the watch-tower. From its top 
long views up and down the great river, and out 
over the open plains, could be obtained. Sentinels 
paced its top to give timely warning of the ap- 
proach of an enemy. On a great gong they 
struck the hours by day and night. The sound, 
easily reaching far beyond the limits of the royal 
grounds, would be welcomed by Judson and his 
fellow sufferers to break the awful monotony of 
life in the miserable prison, which stood outside 
the inner wall. The prison was demolished 
many years ago, but within the memory of 
Burmans now living near by. Around a large 
tree, that must have been large enough in 
Judson's time to furnish partial shade from the 
fierce rays of the tropical sun, a circular platform 
of old brickwork still remains. Broken brick 
and roofing-tile cover the ground. 

Much of the site of the old city is covered with 
tangled jungle-growth, through which chetahs 
and other animals sometimes prowl. A score of 
Burmans are slowly digging up the ground to the 
depth of about three feet over the entire area once 
coveredbythe royalbuildings. Now and then their 
labours are rewarded by finds of jewelry or silver. 

The finer earth below the layer of debris is 
washed for gold dust, from the many gold-deco- 
rated buildings that have marked the spot through 
the reign of many kings. 



"With Persecutions" 221 

The sight of the Ava prison having been 
identified beyond a doubt, the Baptists of 
America would do well to place there a suitable 
monument to mark the spot where their first 
missionary suffered so much " for Christ's sake 
and the gospel's." 

After suffering for eleven long months at Ava 
the prisoners were transferred to Aungbinle, a 
day's journey to the northeast. In company 
with the missionary at Mandalay I rode to the 
place, two days before my visit to Ava. Aung- 
binle is about five miles east of Mandalay, towards 
the hills. Among the pubHc works of Bodawp'ra, 
who reigned from 1789 to 18 19, was an artificial 
lake, formed by a raised embankment of earth 
enclosing about fifteen square miles of the nearly 
level plain. 

This was filled by means of a canal connecting 
with a natural lake two or three miles farther 
north, fed by mountain streams. 

In these two reservoirs abundance of water for 
irrigation could be stored for use through the 
many rainless months. This artificial lake was 
called " Aung-binle" — the conquered or shut-in 
sea. 

At its southwest bend Aungbinle village still 
stands, though its thatch-and-bamboo houses 
have been renewed ten times over since Judson 
was brought there to be thrown into the death- 
prison. 



222 Among the Burmans 

The site of this prison also has been identified 
beyond a reasonable doubt. An aged Burman 
there pointed out the spot to missionaries who 
were investigating the matter several years ago. 

A Burman official who had been there many 
years, and was familiar with land-titles, confirmed 
the old man's story. More recently an old brick 
pathway was discovered when ditching the road 
that passes the prison-site. This further corrobo- 
rated the statement of the two Burmans that the 
police quarters were on the north side of this 
road, and the prison on the south. There is little 
room for doubt that the brick pathway connected 
the two. The prison itself was only a bamboo 
structure, of which nothing would now be left. 

A Buddhist monastery erected later near the 
prison-site, was destroyed by fire a few years 
ago. There are two pagodas within a stone's 
throw, one of which may have stood there in 
Judson's time. 

Except a few slender palms, the region must 
have been treeless, the heat indescribable. The 
location of Mrs. Judson's house is uncertain. 
Judging from the situation of the village, and the 
character of the land near by it must have been 
quite near the prison. 

The Baptist mission has secured about two 
acres of land, including the prison -site. By the 
generous gift of two American Baptists who 
recently visited Aungbinle, a neat and substantial 



"With Persecutions" 223 

brick chapel has been erected on the prison-site, 
as nearly as can be determined. A little farther 
back, and to one side, is the Burman preacher's 
house, also included in the gift. The missionary, 
who frequently visits the village, has provided 
a miniature cottage of thatch-and-bamboo, in 
which to rest and find protection from the mid- 
day heat. As one attempts to realize the situa- 
tion as it was, — Judson suffering untold agonies, 
aggravated by his heartless tormentors, — in the 
miserable prison ; Mrs. Judson, in her isolation 
and friendlessness, suffering from privation, in- 
tolerable heat, disease, and the yet greater 
mental suffering on account of her husband who 
might at any moment be led to execution before 
her eyes, — the picture becomes more and more 
terrible. Then as we turn again to the chapel 
and preacher's house our thoughts rise in praise 
to Him who has wrought these changed condi- 
tions. On the very spot where the innocent and 
the guilty were together imprisoned and tortured, 
an earnest man of God, of the same race as the 
king by whose order these men suffered, — now 
proclaims Jesus Christ as the world's Saviour. 

As I turned away from this spot, and again as 
I passed out through the old gateway at Ava, it 
was with an earnest prayer that a double portion 
of Judson's spirit might rest upon his successors 
in this heathen land. 



X 

HEROES AND HEROINES 

IF heroes and heroines are men and women 
who have shown startling qualities in time 
of stress and strife, many such may be found 
among converts from heathenism. The ex- 
amples here given are from my own fellow 
workers. 

U Po Hline, pastor of the church at Pyinmana, 
is well known in the Burman mission. A con- 
spicuous figure at conventions and associations, 
his massive form, intelligent face, and dignified 
bearing mark him a " Saul among his brethren." 
But U Po Hline's interesting history is not so 
well known. His early life was spent in the 
yellow robes of the Buddhist priesthood. There 
he learned the real inwardness and emptiness of 
the ancestral religion. In it he could not find 
that which could satisfy his spiritual sense ; nor 
was he satisfied to lead the indolent, selfish life 
of the Buddhist priest. 

But familiarity with their arguments and con- 
tents of their sacred books, gained during the 
years of monastic life, was yet to be turned 
to good account. Casting off the yellow robes 
he became a tiller of the soil. By industry and 
224 



Heroes and Heroines 225 

good management not common to his race, he 
possessed himself of rice-fields, bullocks, and 
buffaloes, and money interests among the vil- 
lagers where he lived. 

Loyalty to the British Indian government 
never has been, and is not to-day true of the 
mass of Burmans. U Po Hline's broader intel- 
ligence led him not only to accept the inevitable, 
but also to see what benefits would accrue to his 
race from English rule. He used his influence 
to restrain his people from acts of violence, and 
in various ways lent his aid to the progress of 
law and order. 

In those troublous times he had an adventure, 
of which he never speaks unless questioned on 
the subject. Returning from Rangoon where he 
had marketed his harvest of tsan, — unhulled rice, 
— he and his boatmen were attacked by dacoits. 
The boatmen, terrified by the fiendish yells of 
these desperate dacoits, threw down their paddles 
and would have tried to escape by taking to the 
water. Not so U Po Hline. 

Neither his life nor his rupees were to be taken 
so easily. Crawling under the paung, he seized 
his rifle, and, — to use his own words — " Two 
of the dacoits sank in the water, and did not re- 
appear." The tables were turned. The dacoits, 
now as badly frightened as the boatmen, lost no 
time in taking to the brush. U Po Hline still 
remembers the adventure with the sad feeling 



226 Among the Burmans 

that although acting in self-defense, he sent two 
souls into eternity unprepared. His conversion 
is especially interesting. A copy of the New 
Testament, given him by a native evangelist, was 
the means of shaking his faith in Buddhism; 
and of awakening a desire to know more about 
the " Jesus Christ religion." 

Relating the circumstances of his conversion 
he said : " I kept my New Testament in my 
jacket pocket wherever I went. When resting 
from my work I would take out my Testament 
and read a little, slowly going on through 
Matthew, Mark, and Luke, — but I understood 
nothing of what I read. I read about the birth 
of Jesus Christ, His teaching, His wonderful 
miracles, — but who Christ was I did not know. 
Then I came to John, In the first chapter I 
read : ' In the beginning was the Word, and 
the Word was with God and the Word was 
God.' Then a little farther down I read : ' That 
Word everything created ; and without a divine 
creating was not so much as one thing.' Is that 
so, I said. Did that Word make me ? and not 
only me, but everybody and everything in all 
this great world ? And then I read that He was 
the Light, and the Light shines in the darkness, 
and the darkness would not receive it. Why, I 
said, that is just the way it is here. These peo- 
ple are in the dark, and will not believe what the 
preachers of the Jesus Christ religion say to them 



Heroes and Heroines 227 

" Then still farther down I read : ' The Word 
took the state of man, and lived among us/ And 
as I read on, I found that the Word that was 
with God, and was God ; and created all things ; 
and became flesh and lived on earth was the 
same Jesus Christ that I had been reading about 
in Matthew, Mark and Luke ! I went home and 
told my wife that I had become a Christian ; and 
that as the preacher said that all who enter the 
Jesus Christ religion must receive the dipping 
ceremony I am going to get baptism." " Were 
you not afraid your heathen neighbours would 
make trouble ? " I asked him. " What trouble 
could they make, teacher ? Nearly all of them 
were in debt to me. But when I told my heathen 
wife, she was very angry, and said, ' Very well. 
If you want to be baptized, — be baptized, — but I 
will not be a Jesus Christ wife. I never, never 
will Hve with you. ' Finding that she would not 
relent I said : ' Do not go away. 

'"All this trouble is not because of your chang- 
ing, but because of my changing. If anybody 
is to suffer, I must be the one to suffer. There 
are the eleven buffaloes, and the six rice-fields, and 
the house, and the banana garden, — take every- 
thing, — only let me have the thirty rupees in the 
box, and I will go away. I will go to Toungoo. 
If they will not baptize me there, I will go to 
Henzada. If they will not baptize me there, I 
will go to Bassein. If they will not baptize me 



228 Among the Burmans 

there, I will go to Maulmein.' I had taken the 
Jesus Christ religion with my whole mind, and I 
was determined to be baptized." This was no 
idle boast. 

He meant just what he said, and, like Paul, 
was ready to suffer the loss of everything, that he 
" might gain Christ, and be found in Him." 

His example, so unlike his former self, soon 
softened his wife's heart, and she now said : 
*' Never mind, do as you like, — we will live 
together." 

Not long afterwards she too became a Christian. 
Wherever U Po Hline went he fearlessly 
preached Christ. But it was in his own village 
that his influence was specially felt. His faith- 
fulness and success seemed sufficient evidence of 
a call to the ministry. Greatly needing such 
helpers, I soon arranged for him to give his 
whole time to evangelistic work. His ordination, 
at the Pegu Association held in Toungoo in 
1894, — will long be remembered by the mission- 
aries present. 

A missionary at a frontier station sent a re- 
quest that an ordained preacher be furnished to 
baptize several converts already gained, and to 
accompany his young preachers on a tour among 
the villages. 

The matter was laid before U Po Hline, and 
left for him to decide whether he wished to go, 
or could stand the long hard journey over the 



Heroes and Heroines 229 

mountain ranges. Accepting it as a call from 
God, and trusting to Him for strength, he got 
ready and started at once. After spending a 
month in that distant field, he prepared to return 
to his home. It was a long tramp of sixteen 
days. The missionary gave him money to hire 
a coolie to help carry his load. Besides his roll 
of bedding, cooking utensils and food, one of 
the young preachers had given him three 
lacquer-ware vessels, as presents for his former 
teachers. The coolie must be paid in advance, 
according to the custom of the country. After 
going a few miles the coolie found an excuse to 
get out of U Po Hline's sight, and ran away, 
taking the money with him. At the next village 
another coolie was engaged, who must also be 
paid in advance. They had gone but a short 
distance when he too ran away. U Po Hline 
was now without money to pay for help, so he 
trudged on alone, carrying the load of two. 

He got along very well so long as his path lay 
along the mountains. But when he descended 
into the plains his strength gave out, and he 
found himself burning with fever. There was 
no other way than to plod on, as he was now far 
from any village. Finding himself unable to 
carry all of his double load, he first threw away 
some of the cooking utensils. 

Growing weaker, he threw away the bottle of 
oil and part of the rice. 



230 Among the Burmans 

He would not part with the presents that had 
been entrusted to his care for the teachers, whom 
he loved. To give the rest of the story in his 
own words : — " I would plod on until my legs 
would sustain me no longer. Then on my knees 
I would pray : ' O Father, I have been away 
doing Thy work, I did the best I could, now give 
me strength to reach my home.' 

" Then I would get up and go on again until, 
from weakness, I fell down in the path. Then I 
would pray again : ' O Father, I have been 
away to do Thy work. I did the very best I 
could. Now do give me strength to reach my 
home.' So I went on, falling, praying, strug- 
gling on again, until at last I reached the cart- 
road, and joined some cartmen. I had carefully 
saved my last rupee to pay my fare when I 
should come to the railroad. I thought, — if I 
must, I can sell my silk turban. But the cart- 
men were kind, and gave me food, while I 
preached to them." As he finished his story he 
untied the bundle, and laid the lacquer-ware 
presents at our feet, utterly unconscious of the 
fact that by his devotion to his teachers, and to 
what seemed to be his duty he had shown a 
spirit of true heroism, worthy to be " told as a 
memorial" of him. 

A short time before I left Burma U Po Hhne 
came to me and said, " Saya, I have been think- 
ing like this : — The Apostle Paul said to the Co- 



Heroes and Heroines 231 

rinthian Christians, ' Paul planted, Apollos wa- 
tered ; but God gave the increase.' When Saya 
came to Pyinmana thirteen years ago there was 
not a Christian in this town nor in all this great 
jungle. No nor ever had been. It was all wild, 
the dwelling place of dacoits, tigers, bears, and 
snakes. Saya has been planting all these years. 
There has been some reaping, to be sure, — but 
much more is ready for reaping. When I first 
came to Pyinmana, wherever I showed myself, 
in Bazar or street, the people would call to one 
another : ' Come and see Jesus Christ, come and 
see Jesus Christ.' ' Yes,' I would say, ' I am 
here to represent Jesus Christ.' Sometimes they 
would listen to my preaching, but often they 
would jeer so that I could not preach, they were 
so ignorant and wild. 

" But now, besides our little company of Chris- 
tians, there are many in these villages who listen 
attentively, and some are truly ' considering.' 

" Now Saya must return to America, and an- 
other Saya will come. Don't go away discour- 
aged, Saya. We shall soon be reaping here. 
You will hear about it, and be glad. If it is 
God's will that you return to Burma, you will 
' come rejoicing.' When I first came to Pyin- 
mana," — he continued ; " I had a dream. In my 
dream I saw great fields of rice on three sides of 
this town. These fields were turning yellow, 
promising an early and large harvest. How like 



232 Among the Burmans 

the Bible, is my dream, I thought. This dream 
strengthened my faith and made me glad. God's 
time is not yet full, but I believe it will be full 
soon. This Pyinmana mission is Corinth. Saya 
is Paul. Saya has planted, the coming mission- 
ary will be Apollos, to water the planting. God 
will give the increase." May this noble Christian 
hero live many years, to cheer and help the mis- 
sionaries, in their common effort to dispel the 
heathen darkness. 

This faithful native pastor is but one of many 
who hold not their lives dear to themselves that 
they may accomphsh their course and the minis- 
try which they have received from the Lord 
Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. 

Nan Paw was born in Ya-bok-kon village, in 
the year 1877, — so she thinks, but is not certain 
as to the village or the date. When we first saw 
her she was an orphan, as to her father ; worse 
than orphaned as to her heathen mother. Both 
Nan Paw and her elder sister had already been 
several years in the mission school. The sister, 
Mai Lone, came first. Now and then she re- 
turned to her village home with such wonderful 
stories of tidy white jackets, pretty longyis (skirts), 
clean beds, and nice new books, that little Nan 
Paw wanted to come too. She wanted to see the 
big " white mamma," and enjoy the life that her 
sister was leading. Mai Lone had learned to 
read, — a wonderful thing for a girl to do. Not a 



Heroes and Heroines 233 

girl in the whole village could read, no, not even 
her own mother ! And Mai Lone could sing, too ! 
Little Nan Paw sighed for these privileges and 
accomplishments, and was a heathen no longer. 
Never again could she know contentment among 
the dogs and filth and degradation of her own vil- 
lage. But in vain she entreated her mother to 
let her go with Mai Lone to hve at the mission 
school. Finding that her pleadings were of no 
avail, she took the matter into her own hands, 
and ran away. The mother finding her little 
girl settled down in the mission dormitory to 
stay, finally gave her consent. When we came 
to take charge of the school Nan Paw had al- 
ready overtaken the older girls in her studies. 
The smallest in the class, she was head and shoul- 
ders above them all in brightness and winsome- 
ness. To see her was to love her. It would not do 
to make a pet of her, for petting spoils native 
children as quickly as kittens. Quick to see what 
needed to be done, and how to do it, she soon 
became very useful about the house. A little 
later a Christian Endeavour Society was organ- 
ized. Nan Paw may have learned to love Jesus 
before this ; but now, with several others she 
gave herself to Him fully and openly, and to the 
great joy of all, was baptized. The years rolled 
by, — and Nan Paw, having passed through all the 
grades of the mission school, became a teacher. 
During a vacation she made a visit to some of 



234 Among the Burmans 

her heathen relations in a distant village. When 
the school reopened she did not return to her du- 
ties. Several weeks had passed when we learned 
that she had returned to her mother's village. 
We sent word to her two or three times, urging 
her to return to the school, though we could not 
compel her to do so. At last one of the Chris- 
tians went to her home to ascertain, if possible, 
why she had become unfaithful to her duties as a 
Christian teacher. He brought back word that 
something was the matter with Nan Paw. When 
he tried to talk with her she would keep her 
hands covered, and try to conceal her face behind 
her scarf. With a sad face he said, " I think our 
Nan Paw is a leper." 

Measures were taken at once to ascertain the 
facts. Alas it was too true. In some way or 
other, — whether by heredity or contagion we 
could not learn, — our dear Nan Paw had become 
a victim to that terrible disease. How our hearts 
ached for her. Now we knew why she had not 
returned to the school. While we were fearing 
that she was yielding to heathen influences ; and 
that she was making a poor return for all the af- 
fection we had bestowed upon her, the dear girl's 
heart was nearly breaking. She knew that she 
must bid farewell to her pleasant life in the mis- 
sion, and to her beloved associates. All aspi- 
rations to support herself, to rise in her chosen 
work, to be respected, to marry well — were ut- 



Heroes and Heroines 235 

terly crushed. Henceforth she must be an out- 
cast, despised by her own people. Nothing be- 
fore her but a Hving death, the disease steadily 
growing upon her, until fingers and toes would 
waste away, her whole body become covered 
with repulsive sores, — and no power on earth 
could help her. 

After a time arrangements were made to send 
her to the Leper Asylum at Mandalay, over two 
hundred miles away. There, under the direction 
of the missionary in charge Nan Paw became a 
teacher of others — afflicted like herself. It would 
not have been strange had she utterly given up 
to despair, — and sought release by death. But 
with wonderful submission she gave herself to 
Christian work, — the only woman in the asylum 
who could read and teach the Word of 
God. 

Here is a translation of one of Nan Paw's let- 
ters to her sister : 

" Sister, to you a letter do I send. By the 
kindness of God I am come to the Home for 
Lepers, in Mandalay. Here am I to teach His 
law, and in teaching it I am glad. For this pur- 
pose, I am persuaded, has He brought me here. 
Whether I am to remain all my life, or for a little 
while I know not. My prayer is that God may 
quickly take me to Himself. 

" Why He has brought this affliction upon me I 
do not know. 



236 Among the BurmanS 

" When I consider (my condition) my heart is 
exceeding sorrowful. 

" The teacher has been very kind, and spent 
much money upon me. The physician is good. 
Now in all things, my sister, I place myself in the 
hand of God. In so far as I am able I will strive 
to do His will. That I may be happy in pro- 
claiming His law, will you ever pray. 

" Your affectionate sister, 

" Nan Paw." 

But after a year in the asylum Nan Paw 
longed to return to her native village. This she 
was permitted to do. The disease grew worse 
and worse. 

Her people, backed by the village priest, then 
made a determined effort to break down this 
poor girl's faith in Christ, and turn her again to 
Buddhism. They knew how to cure the disease, 
they claimed, and would cure it if she would 
worship the priest. Pressed beyond endurance 
she at last in sheer despair prostrated herself be- 
fore the priest in the attitude of worship. They 
then gave her medicine several months, the dis- 
ease all the time growing upon her. Not only 
the terrible leprosy of the body, but her soul was 
troubled with the thought that by dishonouring 
her Lord she had become leprous with sin. 

One day when they wanted her to join them 
in their heathen worship she broke out in great 
indignation : " No I never will worship like that 



Heroes and Heroines 237 

again. By your false and useless promises you 
made me deny my Lord. But from this time I 
do it no more. I turn again to my own God, 
who can at least save my soul." Again Nan 
Paw sent word that she wished to go back to the 
asylum. She was an outcast in her own village, 
and in her own mother's home. No one dared 
to see her. She cared to see no one. At the 
Asylum she could be no unhappier. There 
all would be alike unfortunate, — birds of a 
feather flock together. 

I immediately arranged for her return. The 
native Christians contributed generously to make 
up the required sum. As Nan Paw would be a 
teacher, the superintendent kindly offered to pro- 
vide special quarters for her, apart from the other 
lepers. I sent word to Nan Paw that I wished 
to see her before she went away, for I was soon 
to return to America, and might never see her 
again ; that I loved her as a daughter, just the 
same as before her misfortune. But she sent 
back the pathetic reply : " To dear teacher this 
brief letter I write. That God may pour a bless- 
ing upon teacher and all the church members I 
am praying. 

" But I am not fit to be seen. To show my 
face I am ashamed. I do not even meet my 
friends in the village. Therefore please excuse 
me. By the half-past eight train I am going to 
Mandalay. There is with me a very great sor- 



238 Among the Burmans 

row. In no place is there any gladness. Only- 
sorrow's tears are ever falling. Now because 
teacher, by the favour of God, is trying to help 
me, it is a great kindness. And teacher has writ- 
ten favourably to Mandalay in order that I may go. 
That I may be set free from my great sorrow, 
and that God may speedily gather to Himself my 
soul, ever pray." But when circumstances made 
it necessary for her to come to my house she 
overcame her fears, and in the dim light let me 
talk with her, face to face. Again I assured her 
that " Sayah and Mama " loved her the same 
as before ; that her Saviour's love was just 
the same ; that by and by we would be together 
in heaven, and all be alike, with all these earthly 
distresses left behind. 

In the asylum Nan Paw is the only Christian 
woman among about seventy-five of her own sex 
and race. Every day she conducts religious ex- 
ercises ; and every Sunday she stands by the pul- 
pit in the chapel to set forth Christ as Saviour. 
After she had been there a few weeks she sent 
back this letter : " Dearly beloved teacher. I 
reverently greet you, and pray that God may 
pour His Spirit upon you and all the Christians, to 
do His work. Especially, according to teacher's 
efforts, in order to do the divine work in this 
place, — by God's guidance I have come. 

" There have now been three Sundays, and I have 
preached. The first Sunday I explained Matt. 



Heroes and Heroines 239 

5 : 1-12. The second Sunday I explained John 
3:1-21. The third Sunday I explained Acts 
13: 1-12, — about the ruler's faith and God's 
power. God planned that I should be brought 
to this place. Nevertheless, teacher, — though I 
seek ease of mind in this world, I find only dis- 
tress. Therefore pray that God may speedily 
take my spirit. Because teacher, — according to 
the will of God, has helped me, I praise God's 
mercy. 

" Your daughter, 

" Ma Nan Paw." 
In this child of the jungle, brought to Christ 
through the agency of the mission school, 
stricken with a loathsome disease in the prime of 
life ; submissively bowing to the will of God, and 
striving to show others how to escape from the 
leprosy of sin, we see the true martyr-spirit. 
One day the Master will come and touch her with 
His finger, saying " Be thou clean," and receive 
her into His Paradise above. 



XI 

PECULIAR EXPERIENCES 

IT is well for the weary worker in a strange 
land that with the austere and sublime, there 
is now and then a spicing of the ridiculous. 
Happy the man who is so constituted as to 
appreciate the ridiculous when it happens. A 
few such instances will serve to illustrate the 
many-sidedness of missionary life. The first 
was when the writer was a new missionary; 
otherwise it might not have happened. The 
boarding-school occupied the ground floor of 
the mission bungalow, the missionaries living 
above it. One day a great commotion was heard 
in the schoolyard. Looking out of the window, 
the school children could be seen scattering in 
all directions. The old saying " Every man for 
himself, and the devil take the hindmost," was 
being enacted in a very realistic manner. 

Hard after the " hindmost " was a demoniac, — 
a crazy Karen woman. 

Evidently the children had been teasing her, 

but oh how they did repent, as they ran ! This 

terrible creature had seized a short bamboo, and 

was rushing after them in insane fury. Poising 

240 



Peculiar Experiences 241 

it like a spear, she hurled it endwise. Happily 
it missed its mark, or there would have been 
a name or two to strike off the school roll. 
Advancing at double-quick I got between the 
children and the enemy before she could make 
another charge. Whether by faith or by force 
I must now cast out a demon. Pointing to 
the gate, I said "go." She went not. "Go," I 
repeated, and suiting the action to the word, 
started for the gate with my incumbrance. 
Started, — only that and nothing more. There 
seemed to be two opinions as to ways and means. 
I recalled a remark — " The natives are coming to 
think for themselves." It must be true. This 
particular native suddenly collapsed, sinking to 
the ground, in a disgusting heap of obstinacy. 
Filthy beyond description, hair matted and tan- 
gled, her whole person so covered with vermin 
that she was scarcely responsible for her move- 
ments, — what to do with her I was at a loss to 
know. It was a larger contract than had been 
bargained for. Something must be done, or the 
missionary would lose prestige with the school, 
and be subjected to repeated annoyances by this 
crazy woman. Picking her up by main strength, 
we started again. There was a short struggle at 
the corner of the house, where she grasped a 
post with both arms, and held on with the te- 
nacity of an octopus. Disengaging her from 
the post, I thought to get up sufficient momentum 



242 Among the Burmans 

to carry her safely through the gate, but failed. 
Again there was a tug of war. Again might made 
right, and our unsavoury guest gave up the strug- 
gle. Casting back a wild but vanquished look, 
she departed, never to come back. 

We will pass to the " hot season " of our sec- 
ond year. 

The missionaries of the station were spending 
a few weeks of it on a mountain twenty miles 
from town. One mission building was in proc- 
ess of construction, — work that demanded fre- 
quent inspection. To look after this work I 
must make the round trip of forty miles once 
a week, while resting. At one time, passing 
through a Karen village, the pastor lent me his 
pony for the journey. On reaching town I 
threw the lines to a schoolboy, who unsaddled 
the pony and turned it loose in the compound. 
When ready to return to the mountains it was 
found that the pony had walked out through an 
open gate, and was missing. Search was made, 
but the pony was nowhere to be seen. While 
waiting for the day to cool, the pony returned of 
his own accord, and came trotting into the com- 
pound. This was luck indeed. The schoolboy 
quickly saddled and bridled the pony, and away 
I went, anxious to make up the time I had lost. 
Arriving at the Karen village I hitched the pony 
under the owner's house. A grown-up daugh- 
ter sitting on the stairs, modestly inquired 



Peculiar Experiences 243 

" Where is our pony ? " « What's the matter 
with this pony ? " I asked. ^' Our pony is a 
malel' she said. The missionary took off his 
hat. He scratched his head. It was dawning 
upon him that he was in a pretty mess. If this 
is not the pony I borrowed, then where is he ? 
and whose pony have I stolen? And where 
shall I find the money to pay for the other pony, 
if not recovered, — which is an even chance ? how 
shall I explain being in possession of this one, 
if called to account ? It did not take long for 
these questions to go through my mind. The 
case called for prompt action, but my empty 
stomach was calling for food. Mounting the 
stolen pony I proceeded up the mountain. Be- 
fore reaching camp, the Karen pastor's son came 
hurrying up the path, riding on the lost pony. 
The pony had returned to his own village, fifteen 
miles, afoot and alone. One problem was solved, 
and my mind reHeved to that extent. But in 
the eye of the law, should the law find it out, — 
I was a criminal, for my explanation might or 
might not be accepted. As the sun was going 
down, one of the larger schoolboys who was at 
the camp, — started back to town with the other 
pony. I gave him a letter addressed to the po- 
lice, taking upon myself the responsibility. The 
boy was not to trouble the police if the police 
did not trouble him. Going by the most un- 
frequented roads, he arrived in town before mid- 



244 Among the Burmans 

night. Turning the pony loose where first seen, 
he hurried back to the mountain as fast as his 
legs would carry him, reaching camp before sun- 
rise. The missionary never knew whose pony he 
had taken. It is doubtful whether the owner ever 
missed it. 

At one time I was passing through an un- 
familiar jungle accompanied by a coolie, who also 
acted as guide. Darkness was coming on and 
good time must be made, or we must spend the 
night in the jungle. 

Coming to a place where two roads met, I 
chose the right hand road but the guide insisted 
that the left hand road was the one to take. The 
missionary reluctantly yielded to the coolie's bet- 
ter knowledge of the jungle paths. We went on 
and on, but instead of coming out into open 
country, the jungle grew more and more dense. 
We were lost. It was now pitch dark, so that 
even the wrong road could no longer be followed. 
There was nothing left but to spend the night 
where we were. Just as we had made up our 
minds to this, I caught sight of a light, through 
the trees. Groping our way ahead we discovered 
that we were near a small Karen village. In re- 
sponse to our shouts two men came to meet us, 
with guns and torches. They were Christian 
Karens, and glad to find that the belated guest 
was a missionary, rather than a dacoit. I soon 
made myself at home with the family and until 



Peculiar Experiences 245 

a late hour friendly conversation was kept up, 
through the medium of Burmese. The children 
were brought to be inspected and praised. The 
baby, several months old, had not been named. 
Wouldn't the teacher please give the baby a 
name ? It is quite customary for the Karens to 
ask their missionaries to name the babies. To 
this particular missionary, whose work was wholly 
among Burmans, it was a unique experience. 
He had a dear relative in the home-land, named 
Julia. She should be honoured with a namesake. 
" Please write it out, because we might forget it," 
they said. But there was not a scrap of paper 
in the house. Taking the cover from one of my 
lunch cans the name was carefully scratched on 
the inside with a pocket knife, and handed over 
to be laid up in the family archives. At last the 
baby had a name, and the mother was happy. 
Now it was time, and long past time, to get a 
little sleep. The best mat was unrolled and 
spread in the open front, for the teacher. In the 
coolie's baskets was a change of clothing, greatly 
needed after the dust and perspiration of this 
long day, — but how could clothing be changed ? 
— Nor husband nor wife nor daughter would re- 
tire until they should see how the teacher did it. 
The natives themselves usually sleep in the same 
clothes they have worn all day. Is a change de- 
sired they have only to put on an extra longyi 
— skirt, and let the inner skirt fall to the floor. 



246 Among the Burmans 

They have no idea how the white people are 
dressed, until they see them undress. Such an 
event is too rare to be missed. Husband, wife, 
and grown-up daughters will stand by, with all 
the interest of a medical class in a dissecting 
room, while he takes himself apart, picking up 
each piece as he lays it off, with comments such 
as only the untutored child of the jungle would 
ever think of. There was no help for it, — so, 
kicking off my shoes, I stretched out as I was, 
with my saddle for a pillow. The family then 
retired, but evidently feeling that they had not 
seen their money's worth. 

Wishing to enjoy the luxury of a bath in a 
stream, one is sometimes obliged to wander off 
in the opposite direction, to throw the villagers 
off the scent. Were his purpose known, he 
would have so many of the native maidens at his 
heels, as to render the situation somewhat em- 
barrassing. 

At break of day we were conducted through 
the jungle by a short cut to the path we should 
have followed. Having no opportunity to re- 
visit that village, I never knew what became of 
little " U-lee." 

Another experience was certainly interesting 
at the time, and might have been the last, with 
no one to describe it. Returning alone from a 
jungle tour, I reached a river at nine o'clock at 
night. 



Peculiar Experiences 247 

There was no moon, but the stars were shin- 
ing. The opposite bank, high and steep, could 
be dimly seen against the sky. During the 
floods of the rainy season the bank had caved 
off, so that neither man nor beast could ascend 
it. The natives had dug out a narrow path diag- 
onally up the bank. In the darkness this path 
could not be seen from the other side. Two 
Burmans, who were fishing by torchlight, pointed 
out the direction in which the path would be 
found. Taking a star to steer by, I forced the 
pony into the river. Soon the water became too 
deep for fording, and I felt the rather uncomfort- 
able sensation of riding in the saddle on a swim- 
ming pony. By daylight it would not have been 
so serious, though the current was strong. In 
the darkness and alone, it was not so pleasant to 
be in deep water, in mid-river. 

The pony struggled bravely on until he reached 
the bank, and scrambled up on a ledge of joint- 
clay. There was no path to be seen. The pony 
had landed in a little cove where the perpendicu- 
lar bank rose from the water's edge. Back into 
the river he must go. This he refused to do. 
Getting between the pony and the wall I pushed 
him off the ledge, springing into the saddle as he 
went down. The pony was then headed up 
stream, first swimming around a tree that had 
fallen into the river. No path to be found in 
that direction. Returning down-stream, now 



248 Among the Burmans 

wading, now swimming — the path was found at 
last. 

A thankful missionary sat down on the bank 
under the twinkling stars, and wrung the water 
out of his clothes as best he could, before con- 
tinuing his journey. 

The missionary candidate dreams of the time 
when he will break the bread of life to the 
heathen. His dream will be realized, in time, — 
but he will do a great many other things, of 
which he never dreamed. 

He may not know a plane from a plummet, 
yet there are houses to build, and he must be 
both architect and superintendent. He must 
understand, or learn to understand everything 
that pertains to the upkeep and conduct of a large 
mission, with its many-sided work. He may not 
know the use of the simplest remedies, but must 
be doctor for scores, and perhaps hundreds of 
people. The writer had this to go through, and 
some of his earlier patients still hve to tell how 
much quicker they might have recovered if the 
teacher had not treated them. 

On one occasion a boy came for medicine. He 
looked very thin and weak. He wanted medi- 
cine for fever and diarrhoea. The usual questions 
were asked as to frequency of attacks, etc. 
When the medicine had been prepared the 
missionary said : " You take one dose now, 
and another when you retire " when the 



Peculiar Experiences 249 

boy spoke up, " Oh, no, — it is not for me, it's for 
mother." 

A pupil in the school had frequent fits. The 
Buddhist priest said that an evil spirit had taken 
up his abode in the boy. His people came to 
me, saying that the priest had tried to cast out 
the evil spirit, but had failed. " Bring him to 
me," I said, " I will cast the spirit out." He 
came, swallowed a strong vermifuge, and a dose 
of castor oil, putting an end to his demoniacal 
antics. 

One of the saddest times in the missionary's 
life is when he must lay down his work, and take 
an imperatively needed change in the home-land. 
That it will be no small loss to himself, — in the 
inevitable sacrifice of household effects, — is the 
least of his anxieties. But even in this experience 
he will find a silver lining to his cloud, as he turns 
it over. A fellow-worker once unwittingly helped 
us to a hearty laugh, — just when we were most 
needing such a reaction. 

Boxes had been packed, and were being duly 
labelled for the home voyage. One piece, to be 
stowed in the hold of the steamer, had just been 
marked with black paint. Our friend sat down 
on this box during his brief call, none of us think- 
ing of the fresh label. As he turned to go we 
saw plainly stamped in reverse order across his 
white duck pants — " not wanted." 



XII 

OBSTACLES 

TO many minds there is great fascination 
in the thought of self-sacrifice. Separa- 
tion from native land and loved ones, to 
spend one's life in a strange land, among unciv- 
ilized people savours of renunciation more than 
human. The high plane of spirituality, already 
attained, would be easily perpetuated. 

Cut off from everything that had stood ready 
to prey upon one's weaknesses, those weaknesses 
would no longer have to be guarded against. 

In a life devoted to ministering spiritual things 
to people who have as yet no spiritual concep- 
tions there would be reflex blessings furnishing 
all the spiritual help one would need. In short, 
the missionary is looked upon as belonging to a 
peculiar order of beings, almost supernatural, 
dwelling in a sort of seventh heaven of immunity 
from difficulties against which the ordinary soul 
must contend. 

In calling attention to certain hindrances, it is 
to guard against romantic notions. The depress- 
ing influence of hfe among a heathen people 
hangs over one like a cloud. 
250 



Obstacles 251 

The natives are so sodden in vice, so wedded 
to their idols, so prejudiced against all foreign 
religions, so dull of head and slow of heart to un- 
derstand and believe. At times it may seem to 
be all sowing and no reaping, — enough to dis- 
hearten the most faithful worker. 

To " sit in the shade of a palm-tree, and break 
the bread of life to hands eagerly outstretched to 
receive it" — is not an every-day experience. 

Sunday by Sunday the native Christians as- 
semble in the chapel for worship. The new mis- 
sionary joins them. Here he will not be dis- 
tressed by the degradation of the heathen with- 
out. His heart will be glad as he sees these peo- 
ple, rescued from idolatry, worshipping the true 
God. He cannot understand what is said, but he 
can join in silent prayer. It is intensely interest- 
ing, for a few Sundays. But after a time these 
services, in which he is utterly unable to take 
other than a silent part, will be found inadequate 
to meet his spiritual need. 

It will be two years or more, before the mis- 
sionary can join in all parts of their worship. 
During this time he will often remember with 
deep longing the privilege of his own church in 
the far away home-land. In fact, worship with 
people of another race and tongue never quite 
meets one's spiritual requirements. Constant out- 
flow, without corresponding inflow will run any 
pool dry. Then he will find himself so over- 



252 Among the Burmans 

whelmed with work, perplexed by financial cares, 
hindered by innumerable interruptions that it 
will seem almost impossible to find time to put 
forth special effort by reading, meditation, and 
prayer, for the maintenance and upbuilding of 
his own spiritual life. 

One's very zeal for the kingdom of Christ may 
dwarf one's fellowship with Christ. No matter 
how sound in theory, loyal in spirit, or vigorous 
in action, there will come periods of reaction, 
though not of discouragement. " Tired in, not 
of the work." The discouraged missionary is yet 
to be found. " He shall not fail, nor be discour- 
aged — till He has set judgment in the earth." 
Often enough to keep him keyed up to his work 
he will be blessed with the privilege of witness- 
ing that which never loses its fascinating interest, 
— the wonderful transformation of human souls, 
by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Other matters however interesting, are but 
side-lights ; other experiences, however trying, are 
soon forgotten in the joy of seeing, and in a 
measure being instrumental in the advancement of 
Christ's kingdom. 

With a heart warm with love for Christ ; warm 
with love for souls ; full of zeal for soul winning; 
the missionary is safe. But all these passions he 
must bring with hifn, rather than depending upon 
their being developed in and by service in a 
foreign land. 



Obstacles 253 

Dr. Judson, after nineteen years in Burma, 
writing to a foreign missionary association of 
young men said : " Beware of the greater re- 
action which will take place after you have 
acquired the language, and become fatigued and 
worn out with preaching the gospel to a dis- 
obedient and gainsaying people. You will some- 
times long for a quiet retreat, where you can find 
a respite from the tug of toiling at native work, — 
the incessant, intolerable friction of the mission- 
ary grindstone. And Satan will sympathize with 
you in this matter, and he will present some 
chapel of ease, in which to officiate in your 
native tongue, some government situation, some 
professorship or editorship, some literary or 
scientific pursuit, some supernumerary trans- 
lation, or, at some system of schools ; anything, 
in a word, that will help you, without much sur- 
render of character, to slip out of real missionary 
work. 

" Such a temptation will form the crisis of your 
disease. If your spiritual constitution can sus- 
tain it, you recover ; if not, you die." 

Missionary views have undergone some change 
since Judson's time, — for instance, — " some sys- 
tem of schools " has come to be regarded as a 
necessary and fruitful part of missionary work. 
Moreover, instead of furnishing sweet release 
from the " friction of the missionary grindstone," 
in the school its rubs are hardest. The great 



2 5'4 Among the Burmans 

temptation now is to abandon school work, to 
engage in " direct evangelistic work " exclusively. 

But the principal remains the same. Talk 
about the hardships of pioneering ; pioneering is 
a picnic as compared with the year-in-and-year-out 
routine of school work. In boarding-schools 
there is added to the all-day work the all-night 
anxiety concerning the moral welfare of the 
pupils. Sick or well, strong or weak and weary, 
the work is there, and must be accomplished. 
The dormitories are full of boys and girls, and 
constant care is the price of discipline. 

Nearly every day some are on the sick list, 
and must be visited, and remedies administered 
under the missionary's own eye. In serious 
cases the missionary becomes the watcher. I 
have in mind an instance when the cholera broke 
out in a neighbouring mission school. The lady 
in charge of the school took several girls into 
her own house, nursed them day and night, in 
addition to her regular work, and brought them 
safely through the crisis. But at what a cost. A 
few days later a company of sorrow -stricken 
missionaries were gathered around her grave, 
with difficulty restraining their emotion to con- 
duct the burial service. 

A beloved sister had fallen, as truly a martyr 
as ever gave a life to the Master's service. 

The climate of Burma is peculiarly trying. 

Arriving in November, as most all new- 



Obstacles 255 

comers do, everything is seen at its best. The 
rainy season has passed, leaving a placid smile 
on the face of nature. The nights are cool. 
Friends will see that the newcomer keeps in the 
shade from eleven o'clock in the morning until 
five in the afternoon, — for a tropical sun can be 
depended on to do his duty at that time of day, 
the year round. As the season advances the 
nights become cooler, and towards morning a 
chilHng fog sets in. 

The preceding afternoon having been hot, one 
retires in a perspiration, every pore open, finally 
dropping off to sleep — without any covering, 
save his pajamas. With the coming of the fog 
there is a sudden drop in temperature, and one is 
fortunate if he does not wake up in a chill, and 
have the doctor for his first morning caller. 

Persons with weak lungs find this the most 
trying season of the year. But this is the " cold 
season," and the time when missionary work out 
in the district must be vigorously pressed. Away 
through the Karen, Shan, Chin, and Kachin hills, 
missionaries push their way. In the plains other 
missionaries are doing their best to reach as many 
villages as possible before the " hot season " sets 
in. Work which ought to close early in March, 
if the missionary's health is considered, is often 
continued until April. But this is done at the 
expense of health, and shortens one's term of 
service. At least one month of the hot season 



256 Among the Burmans 

must be spent at some mountain resort to escape 
the heat, secure needed rest, or for neglected 
Hterary work, if strength permits. It is not in 
the power of flesh to work on twelve months in 
the year, in the heated plains, without sacrificing 
strength that might be more wisely conserved. 

After a serious illness, I spent a few weeks 
alone in a mountain camp, during my last hot 
season in Burma. Several great vultures kept me 
company by roosting in a tree close by, every 
night for a week. 

My rapid improvement did not furnish an en- 
couraging prospect, and they left. The fact that 
they had occupied the tree before I came to 
occupy the camp, did not make their presence 
much less suggestive. 

By the middle of May the " Southwest mon- 
soon " sets in. Then for five months it is rain, 
rain, rain. But though enough rain falls to 
inundate a country less amply provided with 
natural drainage, the awful heat continues. 
Clouds shut out the sun much of the time, but 
the steamy heat is exceedingly enervating. 
Clothing and bedding are clammy from the ex- 
cessive dampness. Shoes taken off at night are 
mouldy in the morning. The unavoidable ruin 
of shelves of fresh new books from the home-land 
is enough to break one's heart, unless he has 
grace to take joyfully the spoiling of his goods. 
But as a merciful provision against allowing the 



Obstacles 257 

mind to dwell on such misfortunes, the " prickly 
heat " {lichen tropicus) with which one's body is 
covered, will demand frequent attention. The 
rainfall varies in different parts of the country. 

In Maulmain and Sandoway the annual rain- 
fall is about two hundred and fifty inches. In 
Rangoon the precipitation is about two thirds of 
that amount. Mandalay is in the dry belt where 
the rainfall is very light, and irrigation is re- 
sorted to for cultivation. But still farther north, 
at Bhamo, the rainfall is heavy. 

The every-day display of wild beasts, reptiles, 
and insect life is rather disappointing to the 
newcomer. 

In the year 1902 only seventy-three people 
were reported as killed by wild beasts, and 1,123 
by snakes and poisonous insects. But we find 
that 4,194 cattle were killed by tigers; 1,386 
were killed by leopards; six by bears, twenty- 
eight by wolves, and 4,986 by snakes. More 
cattle were killed by snakes in Burma than in ail 
the rest of India. Doubtless many such deaths 
in remote places, are not reported at all. 

Under a certain Christian chapel when the 
ground was covered by a flood, an average of 
six centipedes were counted on each post. 

Other localities are equally favoured, but they 
are scattered about, in piles of lumber, under 
old boxes, and wherever they can secrete them- 
selves, now and then one appearing in a corner 



258 Among the Burmans 

closet or crawling on the floor. On one occasion 
when about to take my family out for a walk 
two scorpions must first be dispatched. 

They were found on the inside of our little 
boy's jacket, taken from a nail on the wall. 
Cobras and vipers sometimes find their way into 
houses, — but this happens more frequently in 
India than in Burma. These reptiles, though 
not often seen, are known to be about, so that 
some degree of caution is in order at all times. 
The general practice of elevating the house- 
floor several feet from the ground greatly lessens 
the number of these unwelcome visitors. 

Not even the newcomer complains of a 
scarcity of the far-famed white ants. Should he 
fail to appreciate their numbers and powers, an 
experience similar to that recorded in " The 
Bishop's Conversion " will make him wish he 
had heeded the warnings of older residents. 

Each queen is said to deposit about three 
million eggs a year. As they do their house- 
keeping and rear their antlets underground, 
a tropical sun making the hive a first-class 
incubator, the success of each colony is well 
assured. During the day myriads of other kinds 
of ants may be seen, but not a white ant shows 
his head. 

Leave an old box on the ground over night, 
and in the morning thousands of these destruc- 
tive insects will be found underneath, eating the 



Obstacles 259 

bottom out of it. Some of the houses built by 
the early missionaries, who had not learned the 
likes and dislikes of the white ant, were destroyed 
in a few years. But a house made wholly of 
ant-proof timber does not insure one against 
their ravages. Under cover of the darkness 
they send out their spies. The house is searched 
from foundation to garret. They make careful 
note of the location of deal-boxes, book-shelves 
and other tempting articles, smack their lips, and 
return to give their report. The floor of nearly 
all residences is ten feet or more above the 
ground, the lower part being left unoccupied. 
The ants, directed by their engineers, select a 
post, and rapidly build a covered way, about the 
size of half a spHt lead-pencil, up its side. Sand, 
made sticky by glue from their mouths, is the 
material used. Reaching the floor the path is 
continued along a crack in the floor, finally 
coming out under or behind the article selected 
for destruction. Unless something wanted leads 
to their discovery, their work will go on until 
chest and contents are utterly ruined. Return- 
ing from a three weeks' absence, I found several 
of my choicest books riddled by these pests. In 
place of valuable marginal notes that could not be 
restored was a paste of sand. Such an experi- 
ence is not, at first flush, conducive to spirituality. 
Rather it makes one sigh for a more expressive 
vocabulary, adapted to his profession. While 



26o Among the Burmans 

superintending the work of demolishing an old 
mission house five heavy timbers fell all at once, 
on as many sides of me. These timbers ap- 
peared to be securely fastened, but white ants 
had eaten away the wood so that nails and bolts 
had no hold. The building had been condemned 
as unsafe over and over, but for want of other 
shelter had been occupied by a missionary 
family until the day before. It was little less 
than a miracle that the heavy roof had not 
crushed down over their heads. 

The most dreaded diseases are cholera and 
fever. 

In the first Burmese war seventy-two per cent, 
of the British troops died, only five per cent, be- 
ing killed in action. After the annexation, rail- 
road and steamship companies revolutionized 
transportation, substantial barracks and bun- 
galows have taken the place of bamboo-and- 
thatch shanties, for the accommodations of 
Europeans. Improved sanitary arrangements in 
the towns have greatly decreased the mortality 
among natives. Compulsory vaccination is 
stamping out smallpox. Each large town has 
its hospital and civil surgeon. In six or eight 
different places medical missionaries are sta- 
tioned. 

Many improvements have been made since the 
time of Judson, — but the climate has not changed. 
As organized mission-work develops, the strain 



Obstacles 261 

on the missionary increases. To the " care of all 
the churches " the mission schools have been 
added. Work enough for four falls upon one., 
Breakdowns are inevitable. Careful inquiry has 
established the fact that the average term of mis- 
sionary service is considerably longer than that 
of Europeans in civil, military or mercantile pur- 
suits, though the missionary lives by far the mor=i 
strenuous life. If it is desirable that the missioi- 
ary should render a long life of service, this ex 
tension of each term beyond the limit of his 
strength is very poor economy in the society 
which he represents. But in the majority of 
cases the mistake is made by the missionary him- 
self. Body and soul he is wedded to his work. 
There never comes a time when he is not mak- 
ing some special effort, that he shrinks from en- 
trusting to another, — for the advancement of the 
kingdom. If another is not available to take up 
the work he will almost die at his post rather than 
leave his people " as sheep having no shepherd." 
The remedy is in the hands of God's people in 
the home-land. Had he not learned to possess 
his soul in patience the missionary might feel dis- 
turbed by unfriendly criticisms directed against 
missionaries and their methods by that worldly- 
wise individual known as the " globe-trotter." 
Entertained at the missionary's home, and in 
much better style than the missionary can afford 
or indulges except on such occasions, he sits in 



262 Among the Burmans 

the best room, and by the light of the only table 
lamp in the house dashes off an article on " Mis- 
sionary Luxury." He travels three thousand 
miles, and visits fifty stations in three weeks, then 
goes home to pose as an authority on missionary 
methods, life in the tropics, etc. It is simply in- 
credible what a variety of misconceptions one 
can pick up in three weeks in a strange land. 
Representatives from churches and societies in 
the home-land are gladly welcomed, if they pur- 
pose to remain long enough to form correct 
views of the situation. It takes the missionaries 
themselves at least two years to form such views. 
Not long ago a noted Christian worker visited 
Burma. He was very earnest in his desire to see 
much in a little time, and yet get at the real heart 
of things. To further his desires two mission- 
aries arranged a jungle trip, that the visitor 
might see the people in their native haunts. The 
last stage of the journey must be made by ox- 
cart. As they were loading up for the start he 
turned and said, " Now brethren, you know, — I 
want impressions." Then again, more emphatic- 
ally as he stepped in front of the wheel to put a 
bundle on the cart — " You understand now, — I 
want impressions." The off-ox seemed to sym- 
pathize with him, for he gave him an impression 
then and there, — on the right knee-cap. Then 
another on the left knee-cap. In great pain the 
young enthusiast staggered to a log and sat 



Obstacles 263 

down. Helped into the cart, he rode the rest of 
the journey. The lameness lasted him several 
days. Doubtless the memory of these first im- 
pressions will last much longer. 

The visitor will learn more in three days of 
Burma fever than in an entire cool season. True, 
he will have sincere sympathy, and the best at- 
tention possible. But everybody knows that if 
true conceptions are to be gained, to be dissemi- 
nated in the home-land, it is a good investment. 

Visitors, like new missionaries, will not be 
guided by the advice of the more experienced. 
That disasters are not more frequent is largely 
due to the fact that Burma is visited when the 
climate is at its best. 

An exception to the rule was the visit of a 
lady who had for many years been actively inter- 
ested in foreign missions. Warnings as to the 
deadly effects of a tropical sun, and the danger 
of contracting fever from undue exposure had no 
influence. Repeated cautions that the head must 
be protected with the customary " sola tope " in 
place of the black straw hat were disregarded. 
Quinine, the universal and only effective remedy 
in first symptoms of malaria, was rejected. She 
was " not subject " to these things. In short, the 
missionaries were unnecessarily cautious in mat- 
ters of health. Malaria changed to settled fever, 
and went beyond the power of the best medical 
skill and nursing to control. 



264 Among the Burmans 

This noble worker, who had served long and 
well here below, and might perhaps have served 
yet longer, went to a happier service above. 

Notwithstanding the many disasters, experi- 
ence still remains the only teacher whose voice 
commands attention. 

To meet every obstacle and trying experience 
the consecrated worker girds up his loins, strong 
in the consciousness of the fact that he is an 
" Ambassador for Christ " the highest office in 
the gift of the King of Kings. His very ob- 
stacles may become stepping-stones to higher 
attainments. 



XIII 
WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT 

ADEQUATELY to answer the question, 
at any given time, What hath God 
wrought? — is beyond the power of 
short-sighted human comprehension. 

As one studies the history of Christian mis- 
sions in this land, comparing the present with 
the past, the question becomes an exclamation ; 
yea, what hath God wrought! In 1819, after 
six years of seemingly fruitless labour, Judson 
baptized the first Burman convert from Bud- 
dhism. 

In 1828 Boardman baptized the first Karen 
convert from spirit-worship. Now about forty- 
five thousand baptized Christians, in Baptist mis- 
sions alone, chiefly Karen, but with the Burman 
and several other races strongly represented 
assemble in Christian chapels, without fear, or 
hindrance. Including adherents, this number 
may be multiplied threefold. Including the 
mission work of the Roman Catholics, Church 
of England, and other societies and their 
adherents ; European officials, traders, and 
troops ; Eurasions, and immigrants, — the census 
265 



266 Among the Burmans 

of 1 90 1 gives a total of 147,526 returned as 
Christians. Calculated on the same basis as 
the Roman Catholics and Church of England 
three-fourths of this grand total should be as- 
signed to the Baptists. And as a result of 
actual mission work among indigenous races, a 
much larger proportion must be credited to these 
American Baptist missions. In casting up re- 
sults as represented by present numbers, we 
should not lose sight of the thousands who have 
died in the faith during the ninety years of 
Christian missions in Burma. And I fain would 
believe that a good number who never " wit- 
nessed the good confession " have died believing 
" unto the saving of the soul." I will give one 
such instance among the many, as related to me 
by one of my preachers, himself a Buddhist, at 
the time. " They told me that an old man in 
the village where I was staying, was dying. I 
went to see him. Sure enough, he was near the 
end. His people were giving him very little 
attention, being angry because he declared that 
he would die as a Christian, not as a Buddhist. 
A Christian preacher had been through the vil- 
lage a long time before, and left a tract with this 
old man. He read it, pondered on it, and be- 
lieved it. As I sat beside the mat on which he 
was lying he said to me : 'I am not a Buddhist, 
— I have cast that all away. I believe in the 
Eternal God this tract tells me about. I am go- 



What Hath God Wrought 267 

ing to Him. When I am dead, don't let them 
bury me according to the Buddhist custom. 
Just roll me in my mat, and cover me in the 
ground.' Then he looked upward, his face 
brightened, he raised his feeble hands and 
exclaimed, ' I can see Celestial beings up there, 
— they are calling me.' He did not say angels, 
— he never had heard anything about angels. 
And I did not know what he was talking about. 
I was not a Christian then. His relations said 
his mind had gone bad, but he paid no attention 
to what they said, — only kept on talking about 
his vision of celestial beings beckoning him 
from the sky. In that way he died. They 
buried him according to the Buddhist custom, 
but I think he was a true disciple." 

The wife of one of our jungle Christians re- 
jected all attempts to win her to Christ. It 
seemed to be a case of ignorance and indiffer- 
ence rather than the bitter prejudice shown by 
the majority of Burmese women. 

During the last two years of her life she was 
an invalid. When the end came her husband 
was the only Christian in the village. Suddenly 
turning her eyes towards the mountains, as if 
hearing something — she said to her husband, 
" There is a great company of disciples there on 
the mountainside. Sayah Gyi and Mama (the 
missionaries) are with them, — and they are call- 
ing me." With a smile on her face she passed away. 



268 Among the Burmans 

In life she had not " confessed," but in death, 
as her spirit hung between two worlds her 
vision was not of the spirits of her lifelong 
superstitions, — but of the missionaries and dis- 
ciples saved by the blood of Christ, You have 
the story, — interpret it as you like. 

In all the old mission stations the native 
evangelists report a good number who secretly 
declare their conviction that Christianity is right, 
the ancestral religion wholly wrong. Some go 
so far as to assert that they no longer worship 
idols, but do, secretly, worship Christ. 

But no amount of urging or encouraging will 
induce them to break utterly with Buddhism, and 
openly confess Christ. They will not even risk 
the consequences of attending services in the 
mission chapel. 

That some are in a measure, sincere, there is 
no doubt. Imagine, if you can, what would be 
the social standing of a hitherto orthodox Chris- 
tian in America, should he renounce Chris- 
tianity and go over to gross idolatry. From 
ostracism he would suffer no more, from perse- 
cution far less than the poor native who re- 
nounces Buddhism, for Christianity. Whether 
any of them are numbered among the saved, is 
not for me to say. 

There is another thought which throws a 
bright ray of light on the great dark wall of 
paganism. It is not one of the results of Chris- 




P 

B 
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What Hath God Wrought 269 

tian missions, but it is a result of the work of 
the Christ of missions. I refer to thousands and 
millions of infants and little children who die in 
pagan lands. If little children in Christian lands 
are immortal, why are not little children in pagan 
lands also immortal ? 

If little children are included in the saving 
work of Christ, are they not so included the 
world over ? It is hardly conceivable that Christ 
would have said, — with children of non-Christians 
around Him : " Suffer the little children to come 
unto Me, and forbid them not, for of such is the 
kingdom of heaven," had He not considered 
them choicest material for His kingdom. Other- 
wise the words " Except a man become as a 
little child " — would have been incongruous. 

Now when we consider that probably one- 
third of the children born in heathen lands die 
before they come to the period of moral responsi- 
bility, a new factor enters into our conception of 
heaven. Now for a case in point. A little child 
died in my mission. The father was a Christian, 
the mother a heathen. One insisted that the 
child should be buried according to .Christian 
custom, the other insisted that the burial should 
be according to Buddhist custom. The father, 
backed by the Burman pastor, prevailed. On 
the way to the cemetery I had to stop the pro- 
cession to drive a snake out of the road. Just 
as the service at the grave began, another snake 



270 Among the Burmans 

passed between the native preacher and myself 
as we stood side by side. It seemed as if Satan 
himself was siding with the heathen mother and 
would snatch away the soul of this innocent 
child. While the little grave was being filled, I 
tried to cheer the father, by telling him that Jesus 
had, in love, taken the child to Himself. He knew 
that the mother would do her worst to bring up 
her child in heathenism, so He had graciously 
transplanted it to His paradise above. Accepting 
this view of the case, the father was comforted. 

There are many such encouraging factors 
which form no part of mission reports. 

Before proceeding to the more palpable 
triumphs of Christian missions, I would point out 
that much has recently been said and written of 
a " Revival of Buddhism." I do not share in 
the impression that Buddhism is becoming 
stronger than in former years. The presence of a 
European clad in yellow robes, parading through 
the chief towns of Burma, making great pre- 
tensions, and reviling the Christian missionaries, 
created a sensation for a time. But his claim to 
be the head of Buddhism was not quite to the 
taste of the many native priests who, locally, or 
for the province, aspired to that position. Hardly 
more to their taste was his departure, taking with 
him a generous sum of money collected during 
his tours. Every now and then one hears of 
new societies for propagating Buddhism. But 



What Hath God Wrought 271 

much of this is mere pomp and show. A few 
of the more popular pagodas are periodically 
treated to a coat of gold-leaf. The bulk of this 
great expense is borne by men who have amassed 
fortunes under British rule, and is more to add to 
their renown than from real religious zeal. But 
where one pagoda is now regilded, scores were 
built and gilded, under Burman rule. Wealth 
and education have raised many Burmans to 
prominent positions. Each one of these gaily 
attired lords would like to have it said, " He 
loveth our nation, and has gilded our pagoda." 
In this they are encouraged by the friendly at- 
titude of the provincial government towards the 
rehgion of the land. In June, 1903, the trustees 
of the Shwe Dagon pagoda issued to prominent 
Europeans and others the following invitation : 
" The trustees of the Shwe Dagon pagoda will 

have the pleasure of , on Sunday, the 7th 

June, 1903, on the platform of the pagoda, to 
witness the most sacred ceremony of unveiling 
the covering of the upper portion of the pagoda 
as the plating of the same with beaten gold sheets 
has now been completed. 

" Sir H. Thirkell White, chief judge of the 
chief court of Lower Burma has kindly con- 
sented to perform the duty of unveiling. 
" U Shwe Waing, 

** Managing Trustee. 
" Shwe Dagon Pagoda." 



272 Among the Burmans 

The Rangoon Gazette thus described the 
event : " He arrived at nine o'clock, and was 
received by the trustees of the pagoda, who 
conducted him to a platform where a small 
pagoda about two feet high and studded with 
rubies, diamonds and sapphires, was resting on a 
massive silver Burmese carved stand. This 
pagoda was hollow and on being opened was 
disclosed another pure gold miniature pagoda 
resting on a beautifully cased gold vase. This 
miniature pagoda also came to pieces and con- 
tained a nugget of pure gold, part of the gold 
plates used in regilding Shwe Dagon. Two of 
the trustees, Maung Po Aung and Maung Po 
Tha, then each read an address and the signal 
was given to the man on the top of the pagoda, 
and Sir H. Thirkell White pulled a handle which 
was connected by wire with the cloth frame on 
the Hti, and the frame thus fell apart and dis- 
closed to view the massive pinnacle of gold. The 
people broke out in cheers, and the band of the 
king's regiment played the national anthem, and 
this closed the proceedings. It has taken over 
140 viss of gold-leaf for the regilding, the cost 
being between seven and eight lacs of rupees," 
over ;^250,ooo. This event, in which the most 
conspicuous figure was a prominent EngHsh offi- 
cial, though in unofficial capacity; and closing 
with the strains of " God Save the King," is 



What Hath God Wrought 273 

heralded far and wide as another indication of a 
revival of Buddhism. 

Were Buddhism wiped out of existence the 
pagoda would still be preserved, as at once the 
most ancient and most conspicuous object in the 
city, — the first seen as one approaches the shores- 
of Burma. 

Buddhism never has lost its strong-hold on the 
races of Burma that many centuries ago adopted 
it. These spasmodic outbreaks of seeming zeal, 
interpreted by many as indications of increasing 
life, I interpret as signs of increasing weakness. 
As in India, these people are becoming alarmed 
by the headway that Christianity is slowly, 
steadily gaining in their land. It is a struggle 
against the irresistible tide of Christian missions. 
Something more than flaming pagoda tops, and 
societies with high sounding titles will be re- 
quired to stay the tide, and Buddhism has 
nothing else to offer. One hundred and fifty 
Protestant missionaries, with hundreds of 
native evangelists and teachers constitute a 
force, which under God, is undermining false 
systems and establishing the kingdom of 
Christ. 

The unveiling of the gilded pagoda top was a 
great event, such as happens once in a decade. 
The place was crowded with Burmans, and many 
sightseers of other races. But on that Sunday, 
and every Sunday, nearly if not quite an equal 



274 Among the Burmans 

number assembled in the many Christian churches 
in that city. 

Judson, forbidden by the king to preach the 
*' Jesus Christ religion," had faith that the future 
of missions in Burma was as bright as the 
promises of God. If in the year 1903 he is per- 
mitted to look down upon the land of his toil 
and suffering, he can see American missions 
firmly established in thirty different stations, and 
more than one hundred missionaries in actual 
service, all under the protection of the flag of a 
Christian nation. Buddhism is reviving, as the 
serpent revives to strike the rod from which it is 
receiving its death-blow. 

Among the far-reaching results of mission 
work stands Judson's translation of the Bible 
into the Burmese language. From the time when 
he triumphantly held aloft the last leaf of this 
translation, until the present time, Judson's Bible 
has been used by all Protestant societies doing 
mission work among the Burmans. It has been 
revised by later missionaries ; but so scholarly, 
and so loyal to the Greek text was it, that com- 
paratively few changes have been found necessary. 
Some have criticised it as containing interpreta- 
tion, at certain points, in place of Hteral trans- 
lation. But in so far as this is true it seems 
unavoidable, it being impossible to reproduce the 
meaning word for word. Failure to reproduce 
the meaning would not be, in the highest sense, 



What Hath God Wrought 275 

a translation. But the severest criticism passed 
upon it is because literal translation was adopted 
where the critics would have a translitera- 
tion. 

Of scarcely less importance than Judson's 
Burmese Bible are the translations, by later mis- 
sionaries, of the Bible into Shan, Sgaw Karen, 
and Pwo Karen. 

The American Baptist Mission Press, at 
Rangoon, is turning out vast quantities of 
Christian literature. Bibles, tracts, hymn books, 
and a great variety of other useful material for 
evangelistic work find their way to the remotest 
corners of the land. Karens and Talaings in 
Southern Burma, even into Siam; Shans and 
Kachins on the Chinese border, to the east and 
north ; Chins in the northwest ; Burmans and 
Karens throughout the land may have this Chris- 
tian literature in their own tongue. 

It can almost be said that the Mission Press is 
evangelizing Burma by machinery. 

At each of the thirty stations of the American 
Baptist Mission a school has been established. 
Where work for different races is carried on at the 
same station there is a school for each race. 
There are scores of out-station schools, but the 
station school is the centre of influence. Here it 
is that the young lady missionary finds her grand- 
est opportunity for usefulness. It is hard work, 
— this steady day-in-and-day-out routine, nothing 



276 Among the Burmans 

harder in the whole round of missionary en- 
deavour. 

But there is also fascination in it. With a 
large body of Christian pupils, as in the Karen 
schools, there is stimulus in it. Here are scores 
of young men who are soon to go out as preachers 
and teachers, in their native villages, or as mis- 
sionaries to unevangeUzed tribes. Young women, 
too, going out as teachers, Bible-women, or per- 
haps as wives of some of these Christian young 
men. The missionaries report so many churches, 
so many Sunday-schools, so many evangelists 
sent out, — but it is largely due to the faithful 
work of our young ladies from the home-land 
that these evangelists were first won to Christ, 
while pupils in the station schools. To take 
these boys and girls when they came as children 
from distant villages, untidy offspring of the 
" great unwashed," and under God, mould them 
for Christian service, is as grand a work as ever 
fell to a consecrated missionary's lot. Thus the 
Christian school is letting in the light, arousing 
dormant faculties, furnishing scores of mission 
helpers, and paving the way for more glorious 
triumphs of the gospel in years to come. At the 
close of 1902 the grand total of 19,430 pupils 
were under instruction in schools of the Ameri- 
can Baptist Mission in Burma. Of this number 
135 were in the theological seminary at Insein. 
All are under Christian influence, and engaging 



What Hath God Wrought 277 

in daily Bible study. But what of the character 
of native converts ? 

Have the backward tribes sufficient intelli- 
gence and stamina to make trustworthy Chris- 
tians ? this question is often asked, A mission- 
ary thus describes the first Karen she ever saw, — 
" Suspended from a yoke from the forehead, 
hanging down the back of this Karen was a large 
pig suspended in bamboo strips to keep him 
quiet, and this pig had been brought by the man 
from the mountains. The man himself was very 
untidy, his single garment was after the shape of 
a pillow case ; his hair, if ever it had been 
combed, had not been for many a day, and I said 

to Dr. C ' It hardly seems possible there is 

more soul in the burden- bearer than in the 
burden.' He looked at me in astonishment, and 
said, ' Why, that is the dearest old deacon in the 
mountains.' And I said, ' If that is the dearest 
old deacon in the mountains, then there is hope 
for everybody.' " In a letter to the Rangoon 
Times an English traveller wrote as follows : 
" Close to police barracks at Myitta (near Siam) 
is a native Baptist church. There are no mis- 
sionaries in the neighbourhood, but Christianity 
has widely spread among the Karens from the 
American Baptist missions in the Karen district 
proper. The Karen Christians observe the Sab- 
bath with Scotch precision ; no doubt its observ- 
ance falls in with their happy indolent disposition 



278 Among the Burmans 

which would embrace eagerly a creed that of- 
fered them seven days of rest in the week. It is 
a little disconcerting for a keen sportsman, who 
has lost all count of the calendar in this remote 
corner of the world, to be told, when ready 
equipped for a day's shooting, that it is impossi- 
ble to obtain beaters, because it is Sunday." At 
a point not so remote from civilization an official 
whipped a Christian Karen for refusing to work 
on Sunday. 

The missionary's request for an explanation 
being ignored, the matter was referred to the 
lieutenant-governor. The official was repri- 
manded, and an order issued that no Christian 
should be compelled to work on Sunday. In 
his book " The Loyal Karens," Mr. Smeaton, 
late chief commissioner of Burma, says, " It is 
not often given to witness such a remarkable 
development of national character as has taken 
place among the Karens under the influence of 
Christianity and good government. 

" Forty, aye, thirty years ago, they were a de- 
spised, grovelling, timid people, held in contempt 
by the Burmese. At the sound of the gospel 
message they sprang to their feet, as a sleeping 
army springs to the bugle-call. The dream of 
hundreds of years was fulfilled ; the God who had 
cast them off for their unfaithfulness had come 
back to them, they felt themselves a nation once 
more. Their progress since has been by leaps 



What Hath God Wrought 279 

and bounds, all from an impetus within them- 
selves, and with no direct help from their rulers ; 
and they bid fair soon to outstrip their Burmese 
conquerors in all the arts of peace." By their 
fruits ye shall know them. Where only a few 
years ago were tribal wars, child-stealing, house- 
burning and savagery, now are quiet, orderly vil- 
lages, each with its preacher and teacher, chapel 
and school. Rubbish and filth that they never 
saw while in paganism, have been cleared away. 
Faces are brighter, bodies better clothed, rice- 
bins better filled. Many of the boys and girls are 
away in the town school for better training than 
the village school can provide. Here and there, 
on the elevated bamboo verandas may be seen 
young wives who have had this better training, 
evidenced by their absence of fear that a clean 
skirt will bring upon them the eyes of the entire 
village. These are a few of the many changes 
forecast in the promise — " I will say unto them 
that were not My people. Thou art My people ; 
and they shall say. Thou art my God." 

About eight hundred Protestant churches, with 
as many pastors and evangelists, are among the 
more tangible results. 

A Christian college for all races, theological 
seminaries for Karens and Burmans, the latter 
open to Burmese speaking candidates from other 
races ; and a Bible training school for the young 
women are preparing pastors, evangelists, teach- 



28o Among the Burmans 

ers and Bible women, to meet the ever increasing 
demand. Aheady native missionaries have gone 
out to work among the Shans, Chins and Ka- 
chins. And still the finger of God is pointing 
onward, — to western China, and the region 
around Tibet, sources from which the races of 
Burma came, and where kindred races still exist. 

Without dealing in uninteresting statistics, I 
have tried to indicate some of the conditions amid 
which missionary work in Burma has been, and 
still is being conducted, and some of the results 
of the work. 

In spite of separations, privations, distractions, 
effects of climate, and other trying experiences, 
missionary Ufe has its compensations. Chief 
among them is the satisfaction of seeing the 
image of God reappearing in human faces, hearts, 
and lives, and the privilege of helping to win a 
nation to Christ. This it is that keeps the mission- 
ary at his post, or hurries him back to his field from 
a half-rest in the home-land ; while first, last, and 
all the time there is ringing in his ears the Mas- 
ter's parting message — " Go, preach the gospel 
to the whole creation," — every word of which, 
as Dr. Ellis once said, " is a heart-beat of the 
Holy Ghost." In the Great Commission, and the 
great need he finds ample justification and 
obligation for vigorous and unceasing missionary 
effort. 

After the battle of Lookout Mountain a dying 



What Hath God Wrought 281 

soldier, roused by a sound of shouting, said to a 
comrade who was supporting him — " What was 
that ? " " Why — that's our boys ! they have car- 
ried the heights, and planted the flag upon 
them ! " With a smile the dying soldier said, " I 
helped put it there." 

All along the mission-front the great struggle 
with paganism is still going on. But by and by 
the battles will have been fought, the victory 
won, and you and I will be standing with that 
great company which John saw at Patmos, — for 
it is yet future. Burmans and Karens, and people 
of India and China, and Africa will be there, just 
as it reads : 

" Out of every nation, and of all tribes and 
peoples and tongues." And as we stand there 
in the presence of our Saviour, — the Lord of the 
Harvest, — it will be a happy day for you and me, 
— if we can say like the dying soldier — •• I helped 
put them there." 










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